Unrelenting Fate
by Keimichi
Summary: AU. Dark!Tsuna. The Mafia world was hatred. Tsuna knew. He had long known it, before the mafia knocked on his door, before he stared into the pitch black eyes of his new tutor. He knew it too well, when the baby introduced himself as Reborn. (Rewrite plans in progress)
1. Chapter 0: Normal

**Summary:** AU. Dark!Tsuna. The Mafia world was hatred. Tsuna knew. He already knew it, the day mafia knocked on his door, when he stared into the pitch black eyes of his new tutor. He knew it too well, when the baby introduced himself as Reborn.

**Warning:** OOCness, a not-so-perfect Mafia, blood (gore later on?), swearing, etc. Dark, twisted Tsuna and co. And different timeline and canon modifications. Definite darkness.

*_**No**_** OCs **will ever take any important parts. Actually, there wouldn't be any except the ones in this chapter. I hate them to death, so there won't be any.

No official pairings. Interpret their relationships as you like.

**A/N: Special thanks to xXxShinixKazexXx for the title!**

**Disclaimer: **If I owned KHR, TYL Tsuna would show his face.

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><p>"Speaking"<p>

'_Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 0:**** Normal**

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><p><em>He was alone. <em>

_Why? Where was everyone else?_

_Only footsteps echoed, floor cracking underneath his steps. He wasn't used to this calmness; it didn't suit the place. Every time he came to visit, it had always been a noisy place. He would hear joyful sounds. He would hear the men's brawls. He would hear Onii-chan boasting about things he didn't know, with his guardian reprimanding him. He would hear Onii-chan laughing, while Onee-chan chasing him through the halls. He would hear fireworks, party poppers, wind chimes and other things._

_Not complete silence. _

_Should it be considered peaceful? Even if the sun is shining so brightly outside, even if the sky is a beautiful shade of blue, he felt an emptiness that was way too lugubrious for his liking. His now worrying heart completely ignored the rest of his surrounding, ignored the crimson glow that leaked around in the darkness. His throat knotted. His voice died down before it even escaped his mouth. His steps became hesitant. But they still brought him towards the place he was waiting for. _

"_Onii-chan?"_

_He peeked through the door of his Onii-chan's room._

_However, n__othing greeted him back. There was no sound._

_The room was a mess as usual, he noted. It somehow comforted him, to see the piles and piles of all kinds of items lying around. He paced towards the giant window, heart racing calming down. _

_Until he stepped on something wet and warm. _

_And then, he made the mistake of looking down._

He abruptly sat up. His hands clenched around the sheets, making wrinkles everywhere. It took him a while to calm down, to notice his surroundings again.

"Huff… huff…" he panted.

Caramel eyes blinked once, blinked twice to adjust to the faint sunlight poking through the curtains of the small room. Birds could be heard, chirping from the outside. He was on a small metal bed, all drenched with his own sweat. He calmed down when he laid his eyes on his tidy, clean room. Yes, his room was clean: nothing on the clean floor, his desk without a single useless tool lying around. Clean, except for the huge pile of random stuff piled up in the left corner, with failing test papers poking out from underneath; while dirty laundry piled in the opposite corner.

'_That dream again…'_ he mindlessly thought.

He sighed in relief and looked up at his alarm clock. 5:27. It was still too early to get up, but he didn't want to dream about it again. Instead, he just let his mind wander again.

His mother, quite used to his son's early awakenings sometimes, didn't question him about it. He ate breakfast before waving a goodbye to his mom and hurried to school.

He ran as quickly as he could to get inside the class just before the evil bell rang.

He managed to make it safely towards the school. He was only a foot away that the bell rang, surprising him so much that he face planted on the floor. A bunch of snickers could be heard from the class, but he was more worried about the teacher than his classmates. Luckily for him, it seemed like the teacher was late. He mentally sighed in relief because he had evaded the clutch of death once again. (Or in this case, the death's fangs; because his school's personal shinigami wears a disciplinary committee band and a pair of tonfas). He panted while letting out a sigh of relief and scuffed towards his seat.

Today was an ordinary day for a most ordinary boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi, 14. Just like almost every single day of the past five years.

He slid himself on his chair and took out and placed his text book. He though he heard a snicker or two directed at him, but brushed it off because Nezu-sensei came in and started his math class. Math class was about some algebra and other stuff, the boy didn't even bother to listen at all. Instead, he simply allowed himself to drift into the comforts of dreamland and ignored everything else.

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p>"<em>Onee-chan, why do you hate On<em>_ii-chan?" Curious caramel eyes stared at two older figures, one male, one female, in front of him. The two stopped their one sided conversation to look at the little brown haired boy that spoke to them. _

"_Haha! What are you saying, Tsuna-chan? She doesn't hate-" The older male teen dodged a few flying dangerous objects. "-me at all! Am I right?" He turned to the girl who was sitting on the opposite side and flashed a wide grin. Tsuna couldn't read her face because her bangs covered her eyes. But it wasn't heard to know what she was thinking as she was holding the rest of the objects that she was about to use on Onii-chan. _

_Tsuna sweatdropped as he watched this daily antics repeated again. Had it been like when he first met them, he would have been scared to death, but now, he knew those sharp objects nee-chan threw weren't directed at him__self, but at his Onii-chan. _

_He could also hear his On__ii-chan's guardian shouting something in the background. _

_Looking at this, he couldn't help but to smile. It made him feel warm inside. It was a different kind of warmth than that of his gentle mother. Somehow, it made him glad that he was, somehow, also part of their little group. _

He was woken up by the bell signalling lunch. He yawned. His sweet memories made him smile weakly. He pulled out his bento and looked around. It seems that his usual _friends_ weren't here today. Oh well, at least he'll get to eat his lunch today. Normally, his friends would ask him to kindly _share_ all of his lunch with them, for the _sake of friendship_, of course.

Yes, that was the life of someone as _ordinary_ as him. He wasn't sure if that was the right word for it, after all. Maybe standing out for being the lamest person in class and being called names like "Dame-Tsuna" was a normal thing. Maybe being a looser was too. And also getting bullied by his own _'friends'_ for being weak and stupid was as normal as anyone could be. Yes, he was normal. **As normal as one can get. **

The brunet opened his lunch box and was just about to pop a piece of the deliciously made meal inside his mouth, when three voices cracked up from behind.

Today _was_ a normal day after all. He looked up and his eyes met purple ones. The one in front of him was a largely built boy with short black hair. The others were simply packing up and eager to go home. '_Inoue Chikage, the leader of his little gang of three_,' he thought. _'Actually, make that four, since I'm technically part of their little gang.'_

It had been about three month since they became 'friends'. Inoue's gang weren't the best choice of good friends. They were rumored to have done some really, really nasty things, but somehow, have gotten away with it.

"Yo! Dame-Tsuna! Eating without us again? How rude. You are ignoring us, even though friends should eat together."

"Haha… I'm sorry! It wasn't my intention! I just got a bit too hungry and-"

"No worries, right guys? Let's just have some fun eating on the roof!" Inoue laughed, while his two lackeys grinned evilly.

Tsuna only gave them a weak smile, like normal. He knew what came next of course.

As soon as Tsuna was dragged on to the roof, he was rudely pinned to the wall by one of the lackeys, Murase Noriyori, a skinny and tall guy with a weird face (in Tsuna's opinion). Meanwhile, Inoue and the other guy named Suzuki Seiki was merrily enjoying _Tsuna's_ lunch.

"Now, now, let's have some fun." Murase smirked, his face only a few inches away front Tsuna.

"Wha-? Please! I said I didn't mean to! Really!" Tsuna panicked. He pleaded his bully with beautiful caramel eyes widening in fear. This only seemed to please Murase even more, as Inoue and Suzuki laughed behind.

"Hey! Nori! Try something new today!" Inoue yelled at Murase.

"Like what?"

"_You know_!"

"Oh! You mean like _those_ times! " the tall and skinny guy laughed, finally understanding what they meant. "…But this is at school! And he can trace us! What if..."

"Don't worry. We'll take of it after. It's not like we haven't done this before."

"Yeah, I guess you're right!" He grabbed Tsuna's writs with one hand, while fumbling through Tsuna's shirt with the other. Tsuna "hiiiiied" at the touch, this was something new! His attacker was annoyed by the loud shriek and moved one hand to muffle his mouth, but was bitten by Tsuna, who was now clearly panicking.

Tsuna tried to flee away, but were quickly caught and pinned down by the other two.

"Che, not even capable of doing that, huh, 'Nori?" Inoue sneered at his lackey. "Fine, let me do it then." He changed positions with the Murase. He grinned widely, punched Tsuna's face hard enough to draw blood. "Let us play, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna closed his eyes. He wasn't that stupid, he can guess what comes next. The smaller teen bowed his head, which the others took as submission. Tsuna stopped pleading, as if accepting his fate. After all, this was a **normal** occurrence between _friends_, right? The brunet's bangs were shadowing his face, making his expression unreadable.

The young teen felt hands roaming all on him. It felt disgusting, but he let it be. His hair was being pulled by a pair of hands, while another pair was pinning his legs so he won't move. He felt something wet kissing his neck, moving up and down.

'_Please don't…__'_

Heavy breath could be heard from the mass above him, moving closer and closer to his mouth. The stinking breath was getting closer and closer, making Tsuna want to shrink away. It closed in when-

"For crowding and doing indecent acts in public, I'll bite you to death."

That single sentence and the impact that came a split second after made Tsuna open his eyes again. The mass above him suddenly disappeared from view. Seemingly confused, he sat up and looked around. The brunet noticed how his three _friends_ were now sprawled across the roof, all injured and unconscious. He sighed in relief and dusted himself, before standing up. Only to meet with the cold icy blue eyes of a certain prefect.

"Hi-Hibari-san…" the small teen shuttered. He looked like a helpless victim here. He acted exactly like how the other students of Namimori would if they faced the most feared man (teen) in Namimori. Right before him, with bloody tonfas in both hands, were the head prefect of Nami-middle, Hibari Kyoya. He was two years older than Tsuna. His dark raven hair swayed in the wind, bangs sometimes shadowing his cold blue eyes. And fluttering in the wind was the famous disciplinary committee's red and yellow arm band.

"Hn. It's illegal to crowd, herbivore," the older teen declared, readying his tonfas.

"I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry for crowding! Please don't beat me!" the younger teen muttered, raising his hands to protect himself from the upcoming blow. It never came.

"Why do you let those herbivores crowd near you?"

The brunet stopped trembling. His hands dropped to each side of his body. His bangs once again covered his face. The prefect noticed the change between the behavior. The one before had been what all herbivores do: plead for their pathetic lives. However, now, there's just an unreadable atmosphere akin to cold resignation.

Hibari watched as the herbivore picked up his already eaten lunch (eaten by his _'friends'_) and slowly walk towards the exit.

"Thank you for letting them have more time to change their ways, Hibari-san." Tsuna smiled genuinely, before exiting.

And the door of the roof closed, leaving one musing prefect and three unconscious bodies.

As Tsuna descended towards his classroom, he noticed the happy chatters from around. One corner sat the school's baseball star, laughing with his friends. On the other, giggling with other girls was the school's idol. He couldn't help himself from envying them. He sat down and took out from the inner of his bag a brown small notebook. He flipped the pages and found the ones he had been looking for. On each page (he was looking at three of them) was one name of his friends. And right beside, there was a bunch of neatly aligned X's.

'_Sigh,__ I guess I'm the only one who have true knowledge of how far their antics goes…' _The X's almost filled the whole page for each of them. He took out a pencil and added one more X to each of the names. _'That's one more X for what happened at lunch. I think I'll have to wait till I return home for some kind of food,'_ he pouted, as his stomach grumbled because he hasn't ate anything yet.

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p>"Don't forget the project due for next week. Class is dismissed."<p>

The room was instantly been filled with chatters of the dozens of student merrily packing up. Most of them started grouping with friends and discussing clubs and whatever thing they were planning to do for the weekends. Not Tsuna, though. Not Tsuna. He was alone, as always, with not a single person glancing to see him. He silently closed his book, gathered his school work and everything he would need for the weekend.

Sawada Tsunayoshi sighed as another day finished. Like always, nothing had been a surprise anymore, he would just follow everything and everything would be fine. As he was silently lost in his thoughts, he gladly packed his things. And in that same void that had affect on no one other than himself, he stood up and prepared himself to slip away unnoticed. But he knew exactly what would come next, even if he hoped that maybe, by some unknown _luck_, he might be able to escape-

"Yo! Dame Tsuna! You're up for cleaning again!"

Tsuna cringed from the sound and stopped. There was no escaping at the daily routine after all. He turned at the expected voice to see three of his _friends_ grinning at him. The leader was holding an unwanted broom in his hand.

"That's right, No-Good! For failing everything, you can at least do that one simple task right!" Inoue continued, shoving the broom in Tsuna's hands.

"Ye-yes!" Tsuna answered hastily. The three classmates just cheered and then walked away, leaving him and the broom alone.

"Haha! Don't worry, Dame Tsuna! We'll pay you back and replace you… someday! After all, that's what _friends_ are for, right?" And like a signal all three of them burst into laughter as they disappeared from view.

'_At least they__ aren't mad with me anymore about what happened last week. I don't want to be beaten up again if I could.'_

It had been a week since Hibari Kyoya, the school's prefect, had caught the three of them bullying Tsuna and punished them for crowding. Naturally, Tsuna was blamed for the incident and got severely beaten by said bullies after that. Luckily, the incident seemed to be forgotten and everything turned back to normal.

He sighed as he stared at the cleaning utensil in his hand, which glared back, as if daring him to let go. The contest lasted for a few seconds, before it finally ended with the same old victor as it always did. Once again having lost the glaring contest, the brunet just resigned himself for the class cleaning duty. It was his job, cleaning had become a custom. No, it wasn't the teacher who made him do it. He got assigned to the task as often as everyone else does. For a second, there had been a wry smile that flashed on his face, that bitter one full of loath and hatred for life; but everything vanished as quickly as it came and Tsuna became Dame again. It was not like this was an unusual part of his life anyway. Because of his reputation, he had been made the sacrifice that would take care of these duties.

His three classmates, _his friends_, were just a few of the whole bunch who would shove it in his face everyday. It wasn't bad at all, not really. He had long gotten used to it.

As custom, he temporarily put the broom away and plunged his hand in his messy school bag. He promptly took out the brown note book and flipped the pages, placing another X near the ones he had just scribbled a few hours ago. Then he tucked back to the bag where it belonged.

After a whole half an hour, he managed to finish his job, and was glad to finally be able to escape the dull place. He slipped his school bag on his shoulder and locked up the door. He fled quickly to prevent from running into any member of the Disciplinary Committee that would be _just glad to show him the way out_.

He was glad that another normal day was over.

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p>Sadly, if only things stayed so simple.<p>

Walking home that day, Sawada Tsunayoshi just happened to get near a so familiar park. It was now pretty much deserted, and no one else lived in the neighborhood. The past songs of laughter that he used to sing with his _Onii-chan_ rang inside his head. He couldn't help but to let a tear fall. Time never seemed to last long enough and this park was the proof of the destruction of time.

The sun was setting in the background, dying the sky in a beautiful shade of crimson. A few strings of cloud roamed freely. The lights were casting long shadows on the ground.

Tsuna absentmindly glanced towards the deserted park. That's when he noticed three familiar silhouettes. His heart stopped for a split second. _'Onii-chan? Onee-chan? Guardian-san? Did you come back?' _He quickly ran towards the shadows. He leaped to joy. They were finally coming back to him! They were back! They-

The three shadows turned.

"Well, well, if it isn't Dame-Tsuna," Inoue said.

Tsuna's shoulder sagged. It was only his classmates, not the ones he was expecting. _'That's right. Onii-chan and Onee-chan are gone. They are all gone and can never come back. Don't delude yourself, Sawada Tsunayoshi. You can't see them again.'_

"Whatcha doing here, Dame-Tsuna? Isn't it too late for you to be out here?" Murase mocked. A few second later, Tsuna found himself pinned to the playground floor once again.

"So, what do we do, boss?" Suzuki Seiki, the other lackey asked to their leader.

"Well, he still hasn't paid us back for what that bastard Hibari did to us, right?"

"No, boss," both grinned.

"Then, let us teach a lesson to our _dear friend_," Inoue replied. He turned towards Tsuna.

Said brown haired teen didn't say anything as he they punched him. He didn't say anything as they destroyed his books, his homework. He didn't say anything as he encased their humiliations and name-calling. _'Please, don't do it.'_ That was the only thing that rang through Tsuna's mind. However, he stayed silent and let his classmates do what they want. After all, it was normal, right?

"Hey, what's this?" asked Murase as he took out one single small brown note book from Tsuna's bag. "It's weird! Look at all these X's! And what are these names?"

"Let me see!" Inoue tore the book away from his subordinate's hand. He flipped through the pages, then stopping when his gaze landed on three familiar names. "Well, well, well. Looks like someone was bearing a grudge against us."

He rubbed the booklet in Tsuna's face. On the page was the name Inoue Chikage, followed by hundreds and hundreds, thousands of little X marked in red. The page was almost full, except for a small spot in the bottom. He ripped off the three pages and tossed the note book to the side. He let the page drop to the ground and stepped on it. He then walked towards Tsuna.

Still grinning widely, he grabbed Tsuna by his messy hair. "That's not nice, Dame-Tsuna. I thought we were friends."

His smiled dropped and he banged Tsuna's head on the floor. "BUT I GUESS WE ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR DAME-TSUNA, HUH? YOU PIECE OF TRASH! **LEARN YOUR PLACE! **"

Blood was now dripping on the floor, tainting the sand around Tsuna.

"Che! You're like all those other week toys we played with before. Stupid, lame. Losers' like you only waste space. Just like those old geezers we took care of yesterday. Well, at least that one won't be wasting anything ever again anymore."

"…"

Inoue Chikage didn't notice that the page he tore started to glow. Under his name, glowing in a crimson shade, the last X were written by a string of fire, finally completing the Xs on the page.

"…ank… Hi…san…"

"Huh? What's that? What did you say, Dame-Tsuna?"

Something wasn't feeling right for the trio, all of the sudden. He felt like this wasn't like what would normally happen. His doubts were confirmed when he heard their victim reply back, for the first time.

"You should thank Hibari-san…" Tsuna muttered in a calm and steady voice. This surprised Inoue as the brunet would always hesitate when talking to Inoue and his gang. But this time, it was both calming cold and warm. This sent down a chill down the bully's spine. Tsuna's classmates backed up from said brunet, who slowly stood up.

"He… gave you more time… But I guess, in the end… What is meant to happen will happen."

Tsuna finally raised his head, revealing two serene sunset eyes. Tsuna paced towards the now speechless trio. He bent down and picked the three sheets of paper, pointing them the trace of every single one of their sins.

"All those sins that you committed… Bullying was just one small thing. All those lives you ruined other than mine… How you steal away other's happiness…"

I originally only wanted you to repent. I wanted to be forgiving…"

He flashed a genuine and innocent smile.

"…But I guess, this is the end."

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p>The sky was a beautiful shade of crimson, the sun slowly fading into the line of horizon. Slowly, the beautiful orange were swallowed by the darkness of the night, leaving only a faint light behind.<p>

'_This was the park we once played in, Onii-chan.'_

A small brown haired teen stood in the middle of the deserted park. His orange eyes stared into the fire before him, where once three other human beings, if you could call them that, stood. He knew that once the fire died down, nothing would remain of it, not even dust. Fire, after all, was the one who purify everything.

He stayed there for a while, then brought to his hands three sheets of paper. He looked at the three crossed down names.

_Inoue Chikage_

_Murase Noriyori_

_Suzuki Seiki_

Tsuna's gaze followed the page, as it landed into the fire and was embraced by the flames. Tsuna threw one last glance at the dancing flames, knowing it will burn out soon with nothing to fuel it, before walking away. As his footsteps faded, the fire licked X's that completely filled the sheet of paper, before forever erasing their existence, erasing the names.

Yes, Sawada Tsunayoshi was **normal**.

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p>The next day, three people in class I-A were reported missing. Rumors ran through the school that they were punished for the bad things they secretly did behind the school's back by a certain prefect. Of course, said-prefect only narrowed his eyes and bit everyone he caught spreading the rumors to death, claiming it was illegal to 'crowd and spread rumors'. The talk soon hushed down due to fear. And eventually, things were forgotten.<p>

Only the I-A class was reminded that there had been three other people there once. Three people that were _'friends'_ to Dame-Tsuna. Not many people truly missed them, but it did made the others uneasy with Tsuna, just for a short while. Later when other mean classmates asked sarcastically if Tsuna missed Inoue's gang, he just laughed it off uneasily.

He just smiled his normal smile, like there had been nothing wrong, like as if the news hasn't bothered him that much. People who expected something more just shrugged at the ordinary response. As expected of Dame-Tsuna. After all, what else can go wrong when everything is so normal?

But they were wrong.

Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn't normal.

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p>Here you go! The prologue! It was a bit long (4k words!), but necessary to explain the context Tsuna is in. A somewhat twisted Tsuna, that isn't so pure. He kind of reminds me of Enma. (Sorry, that was not intended.)<p>

Excuse me for the grammar. English is not my first language, you see, and I have no beta reader. So grammar, syntax, typos might be common.

Who are Onii-chan and Onee-chan? (means big brother and big sister btw, for those who don't know yet) Don't worry, they won't take screen time.

Will there be pairings? No, unless you squint. It can be interpreted as either friendship or love. Whichever you like.

**So if you want me to continue, READ AND _REVIEW_! **Honestly, just one word is enough to make me happy, really.

And a **big thanks to ****xXxShinixKazexXx** again, for coming up with the title of this story. (I promised to put your name in bold letters! ;D)

_**Next time: **Tsuna would be introduced to his sadistic tutor named Reborn!_


	2. Chapter 1: And Thus Breaks the Monotony

I'm so happy! Got so many reviews and alerts just for the prologue!

**A big thanks to  
>catxmelons, Kuro-chan, KitsuneNaru, hokkyokusei, Suzuno Akaya, The stalker from your closet, Sailor Dying-Will, EK12, xXxShiniXKazexXx, mapleroxy, Bleach-ed-Na-tsu, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Emriel, AFC, TripOverFlatSurfaces, Cael05, PinaGrin<br>for reviewing! You guys made me soooo happy!**

Honestly, I was afraid that no one would like it... But now, I'm doing better than I thought!

I'm sorry. ;_; I kinda lied about the Reborn part... Well, not exactly, but it's still different. More like it didn't go exactly as planned... (not exactly a bad thing, but it's still different)

Anyway, I'll stop now, all other comments goes to the end of the story... So HERE WE GO!

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><p><strong>Warning: <strong>major OOCness, a not-so-perfect Mafia (well, not as perfect as KHR's), blood, swearing, etc. And specially an un-idealistic and somewhat twisted Tsuna. And different timeline + other non-canon stuff.

**Disclaimer:** If I own KHR... If I own KHR... -evil maniacal laugh-

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

**A/N: Chapter one would be switching between lots of different KHR character POVs, before Tsuna's. **

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 1: And Thus Breaks the Monotony**

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><p><strong>Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan. <strong>**Morning: 8:18 AM. **

The Sawada household was what could be qualified as ordinary. Only two people lived there on a regular basis: a young housewife and her 14 years old son. Usually, people wouldn't give it a second glance. It was just too unnoticeable. Though, the neighbors who lived near there would always remember the young Sawada Nana as an airhead, and her son as the no-good boy of the neighborhood.

Was it was by pure coincidence that a dangerous shadow chose that house specifically, out of all the other nearly identical ones that filled that street? Maybe. But for what ever reason, it did. And by that choice, it changed the destiny of many souls.

Sawada Nana was pretty happy that day. She had woken up early, feeling even more refreshed than usual (which in itself is almost impossible). For some reason, she got a feeling that something big will happen today. Most people would be worried, but Nana being Nana, she wasn't at all. That happy feeling didn't leave her after she got dressed. She got so overjoyed that the first thing she did was to prepare a huge fest for her cute little son.

However, unfortunately for said-son, she forgot to wake him up.

And that's how, a few hours later, an ear-destroying scream was heard in the Sawada household.

Sawada Tsunayoshi smacked himself on the head. _'I'm late again!' _He dressed himself as quickly as possible, while internally asking himself why his mother didn't wake him up. No, she probably did while he slept like a brick. If he asked, she would probably say something like: "Tsu-kun, I did, but someone wouldn't budge". Internally cursing himself to not be able to leave the comfy bed, he quickly tidied himself, getting ready for school.

The young mother, losing track of time, almost jumped when heavy footsteps were heard from up the stairs. The key word being _almost_, because no one can surprise the Sawada wife, ever.

"Sorry mom, I'm late!"

Nana only blinked once when a brown flash rushed towards the door, following by a loud slam. She stared for half a second, before sighing.

"Geez, Tsu-kun! I even prepared so much!" she pouted, before shrugging it off and hummed merrily a random tune, Tsuna all forgotten. Typical of Nana.

At the same time, pitch black eyes observed the running boy. Eyes shadowed by his trademark hat, he smirked.

"Hum, she didn't take the note I left in the mail box, huh? I guess that I can't just go barge inside the house without that as an excuse," he noted to himself.

The mysterious identity lowered his hat and jumped off the tree he was hiding in.

_'No matter; you won't be able to escape your fate either way. Guess I'll get more time to observe my target.'_

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

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><p><strong>Nami-Middle School, Namimori, Japan. <strong>**8:31 AM. **

Hibari Kyoya wasn't exactly the most patient person. It was common knowledge to every inhabitant of the small town that he loved discipline and Namimori, to the point where he would punish everyone that would disturb its peace in any sort of way no matter who they were. If anyone dared to mess with THE Hibari Kyoya, they would earn a free trip to the hospital.

Of course, if you went to Nami-Middle, the common knowledge expanded. For that school was the exact same one that Hibari Kyoya attended, where he rules as the head prefect.

He was the one that deals with the delinquents, the bad behaved students, etc. Though people often wonder who the real villain here was: the one who broke the rules or the one who beets that person to death?

But, one thing for sure: you obey Hibari Kyoya's rules, no matter what they are.

And one of those rules is: not to be late for school.

Which now brings our attention to the weak herbivore that dared disobey said-prefect. Hibari frowned at the cowering herbivore in front of him, identifying him as the spiky brown haired student named Sawada Tsunayoshi. By now, being late for Sawada Tsunayoshi was an usual occurrence, but it still annoyed him to no end.

"Hn. Being late for class is against the rules. Be prepared to be bitten to death."

"HIIIIIE! HIBARI-SAN!"

The prefect was even more annoyed by the shriek. How can an herbivore appear even more herbivore? By screaming like the herbivore in front of him, of course.

No mercy to herbivores.

"WAIT! WAIT! HIBARI-SAN! I'M S-SORRY! P-PLEASE DON'T KILL ME! I WON'T DO IT AGAIN!"

Tonfas lowered slightly, grey-blue eyes focused on the cowering herbivore in front. He observed the curious creature for a while. Yes, the creature was very curious indeed…

Half a minute later, a certain weak herbivore was thrown off guard by the lack of response from the carnivore in front of him. Tsuna took the lack of pain as sign a forgiveness. Thanking Kami-sama, curious caramel eyes looked back at the head-prefect. However, this seemed to be his mistake.

Hibari's eyes narrowed slightly at the same familiar antics.

The way the eyes darted, the way the body trembled, how the head lowered. How the herbivore fidgeted, how he hesitated, how he cowered...

He could not find a fault in the herbivore at all.

_'...'_

Still... There was no way he would let off anyone that easily. Like hell he would ever forgive an herbivore. He spun his duo tonfas. "I'll bite you to death."

Before the herbivorous creature even had the time to scream 'hiiie', he launched forward and slammed the spinning metal weapon right into the herbivore's stomach. Having no time to react, his victim received the full blow and flew a few meters away on the impact.

"Go to class now or you will get detention."

Not caring anymore, the black haired teen simply walked away to bite some other unfortunate late-comers to death. He watched from the corner of the eye as the herbivore named Sawada Tsunayoshi struggled to get up and hurried to class.

He shook off the uneasy (not that he would admit it) feeling of someone or something watching. He smirked. Whatever it was, he would just have to bite it to death. No one is allowed to intrude his territory.

Far away, a figure pulled down his green binoculars. The mysterious shadow smirked at what he saw. His target was exactly as described in his report. Frail, no backbones, and with no guts.

Too normal for his taste.

But that's what he was there for, huh?

Time to break the monotony.

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Hallways of Nami-Middle, Japan. <strong>**Lunch break. **

In the hallways of Nami-middle, people were gathered with their friends in lunch break, not noticing their surroundings at all. But even that way, not just a few heads, mostly boys, would turn when a familiar silhouette was strolling in the halls. After who wouldn't when the famous beauty of Namimori walks by?

Sasagawa Kyoko was walking in the halls, looking at every direction, searching frantically for her best friend. She just managed to get rid of her bunch of fan boys and was eager to spend some time without the useless flattery, with her friend. She couldn't tolerate them anymore, especially with the recent appearance of this upperclassman, Mochida-sempai, which kept flirting around her.

Half in dream world (thinking of more excuses to evade Mochida), half looking around the student body (at everywhere except in front), she didn't notice another student who was dream-walking too. The next thing she knew, she was on the floor, with a bump on her head.

"Owe..." the girl rubbed her head, wincing at the slight pain and wondering what happened.

"I-I'm sorry!" a squeaky voice apologized, surprising her. This reminded her that she bumped into a person, and not the wall. She looked up and was met with the sight of a small, messy brown haired boy bowing at her. It didn't take her long to identify him as 'Dame-Tsuna' from her class. The small boy was obviously panicking.

"It's- it's my fault, I was day dreaming and I didn't look where I was going and I b-"

'Dame-Tsuna' looked up at her and their eyes met. The boy's huge caramel eyes widened for a second—is it even possible to have such big eyes? Kyoko concluded he must have not expected to bump into her of all people.

"Don't worry, it's fine, really," the girl replied, taking pity (a bit) on the brunet. And it's not care for these stupid things like being bumped into, she was only looking for Hana, not another apologizing (fan)boy. Ignoring the little brunet that started rambling, she stood up abruptly—

"Ouch!" —and flinched when she used her hands to support herself.

The brunet in front of her seemed to notice her wincing, because he stopped talking. "A-are you o-okay? Did you hurt your wrists?"

"It's fine, really," she proclaimed, it really wasn't. She was trying her best to put on her angelic smile, so the other would stop worrying. Usually, it did work out with the guys. She waved her hurt hand casually like it wasn't hurting like hell.

That's when she noticed the strange gleam in Dame-Tsuna's eyes.

His eyes...

He knew she was lying.

For a split second, she felt herself bare, completely bare from all the extra layers that usually covered her soul. It made her excessively afraid all of the sudden, made her feel vulnerable.

And then, it was gone.

Confused, she simply shrugged it off. She might be seeing things because the second after, he was acting exactly like every other guy. _'It must have been my imagination.'_

She did notice his worried expression though.

"A-are you sure Sasagawa-san? I can help you to the infirmary! I-"

"Yes, I'm really ok." To get him to stop, she tried to prove her point by waving her hand. Though the plan seemed to backfire because she had to bite her lips when she twisted it again. It really hurt—

"What is this?"

Kyoko looked up when she heard the somewhat familiar voice. She was greeted by the sight of one of the school's Most Sought Boys, Mochida. Though right now, that same pretty face if his was distorted in an unnameable anger directed towards Dame-Tsuna. Said no-good student was flinched in fear.

"Did that shrimp do something to you?" Mochida asked Kyoko in a worried —worried? Was that pervert worried? — tone and turned towards the redhead. Thought there was an undertone of anger in it directed not at her, but at the unfortunate person that bumped into her.

Kyoko couldn't help but to feel pity for the small brunet. Mochida was one of the guys that had been pursuing her since the beginning of middle school. She wasn't as clueless as everyone thought she was, she had long realized that his intentions weren't pure (just like all the other guys on her back). Though what annoys her more than the other guys is that Mochida was a playboy. Hana had gathered lots of evidence about him toying with other girls. And it wasn't a secret to her that there was this other girl around him.

But she can't deny the fact that he had been trying everything to get to her, probably wanting to use her fame for a boost of his own personal reputation. He would not let anything pass between him and his goals (girls). It was simply unlucky for her that she became one when she cane to middle school. Unfortunately for Dame-Tsuna, Mochida seemed to have classified the weak boy as an 'obstacle' or as some 'object to prove his 'strength'.

What's even more unfortunate is that Mochida was the captain of the tendo club. He was one of the top fighters at school. He was also the regional champion for that matter. Dame-Tsuna angered Mochida; he wouldn't be left off easily.

Even if it was (kind of) Dame-Tsuna's fault for bumping into her (he wasn't watching where he was going as much as she wasn't), he shouldn't be more of a target for bullying than he already was. (Dame-Tsuna was also famous for being a target of (sometimes silent) bullying.)

But...

What if...

She then had an idea.

Doing what every other person would expect someone to do, she smiled innocently at the black haired sempai and said, "Oh! Mochida-sempai... It's okay. He just bumped into me by accident. "

Mochida's eyes narrowed. "He hurt you?" the older teen glared daggers at Dame-Tsuna. "How dare you hurt Kyoko?"

"HIIIIIIE!"

"Tsk. You think you can get away for hurting a girl? The heavens may forgive someone like you, but I won't. You should not even exist in the first place: you're nature's joke towards humanity. Losers like you taint our society. It's my duty to get rid of you trash."

With a scrowl plastered on his face, the kendo club captain pointed dangerously his wooden sword directly at Dame-Tsuna's neck. Said brunet fidgeted in place, looking ready to piss in his pants.

"I challenge you into a fight. Today after school, at the gymnasium. 3:30. Remember it. If you're even half of the wuss people think you are, you would come." And thus, Mochida walked away, never looking back at his future victim.

Kyoko looked back and forth between Dame-Tsuna and where Mochida stood a minute ago. Maybe it was the good time to say something to her classmate? What was Dame-Tsuna's last name again? It sounded kind of like hers... Sagasa?... Sa… That's right, Sawada. "I'm sorry, Sawada-kun. It's because of me that Mochida-sempai misunderstood. I got you into trouble. Now you'll have to fight him when you don't know how to fight..."

"It-It's fine Sasagawa-san... I'm so-sorry... for b-bumping into... you. I-I better get g-going. _I'msosorry!_"

Kyoko could only stare as Dame-Tsuna hastily ran away. Then again, she noticed, he did seem to run away a lot. Poor guy just had to bump into her and accidentally hurt her when Mochida saw it.

But oh well, she would make use of this. Since the poor boy is a victims anyway, why not profit. If Dame... If Sawada can stall Mochida for a while, maybe she can get some peace.

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Kendo club, Nami-Middle, Japan.<strong>** After school. **

Waving his wooden sword in the air, a certain someone was thinking about what just happened.

Had be made the right choice? He can't be hesitating right now!

His heart jumped just by thinking back. He was sure he did everything well, and the future outcome of his decision made his heart flutter. Maybe this time...

He had always loved her. How long has it been? Four years? Six? It felt like forever since that first moment when he laid his eyes on the girl named Sasagawa Kyoko, since he felt madly in love.

She had some sort of elegant aura that made her different from the normal girls that throw themselves on the first good-looking guy they find. At that time, he was just like any other average guy. She had been the one to bring out his confidence, his everything. He soon began to change, just to please her, just to be different from the other guys, so she would look at him differently.

He never had the courage to confess. Then time passed. Being the sempai by a year, he moved to middle school. He had thought that he would never see her again, that she would go to a different school than him. He didn't think too much, he wanted to move on from his puppy crush. Taking advantage of his good looks, he started dating other girls, from pretty ones to not so pretty ones. Of course, being considered handsome and cool and being a genius in helped. But none of those girls managed to make his heart jump like Sasagawa Kyoko did. But he didn't give up. He just kept searching, hoping secretly to maybe meet his special someone.

But then he saw her again. She also came to Nami-Middle. He hadn't thought he would still love her; it hadn't been a simple crush like he thought. A single smile was enough to break every part of him. He noticed she was way different from his groupies; his good looks didn't affect her. She didn't care about those at all.

Despite what everyone thinks, he was shy. He still couldn't confess to her. He tried, but could never say the right words at the crucial time. But he made protecting Kyoko his duty so he would always watch over her. He would always be around. He didn't care about the other girls, even when his friends even presented him to a girl who had been prettier than Kyoko. His friends didn't get it. The others didn't matter. It had always been Kyoko and Kyoko alone. Even if she didn't realize it.

That's why when that wimp bumped into her and hurt her, he saw red. How dare that trash hurt her? How dare he?

_-"Do you love her?"-  
><em>  
>He had heard a voice, a distant but close voice. It was at the same time grave and high pitched. He didn't know where it came from, but he knew it wasn't <em>human<em>. That voice—

_-"If you love her, I can make her yours."-_

He didn't know why he trusted that voice. Was it desperation? Was it because it promised something he couldn't do by himself? He didn't know. But he still did as he was told, even if it means trusting it—that inhuman, that _thing_—, to that brat who dared to hurt his Kyoko.

He followed the _Voice_'s instructions to the letter. He hoped it would work—it just had to.

"I challenge you into a fight."

And he would win. He _need_ to win. No matter what. Even if it means putting down his dignity, his reputation, his every being, he would win.

Because maybe, _maybe_, that way, she would finally look at him. Finally realize that he had been there the whole time. Maybe that angelic smile of hers would be directed at him for a second time.

Just like that first time when that bright smile changed his destiny...

Mochida closed his eyes and gathered all his resolution in one swing. This time, he would do it right, this time he would gather his courage, this time, he won't ran away. Dame-Tsuna better be prepared.

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Hallways of Nami-Middle. <strong>**After school. **

Tsuna closed his eyes and sighed. So many things happened today and it was getting on his nerves. He really wish everything would be in their normal familiar pace, so he wouldn't mind anything much. But he couldn't help but to feel that _something_ is ought to change.

He hid in every corner he could find, carefully shielding himself from the gaze of the student body. The fight against Mochida had become big news, to the point almost the whole school knew about it. After all it's not everyday that the school's top male idol fought for the sake of the top female against one of the school's famous losers. Just like one of those romanticized stories in those soap dramas where the hero fights for the heroine.

Hero? Heroine? Too bad he was neither.

_'I have a bad feeling about this. Something is about to happen. I better get away._

_'The entrance of the school is way too crowded for me to just walk past. They would just grab me back and force me to fight. More drafting ensures to escape? ...I guess I have no choice...'_

Using it every time means there was a chance that his usual escape route would be found. Normally, he only uses it in case of emergency, or when he gets really, really tired of the bullying.

_'But I guess today counts as an exception.'_

And thus, he proceeded for his escape route: the boy's washroom. There was a window —too small for normal people to pass through but good enough for someone his size. It led towards one if the narrow alleys of the school that no one, not even the delinquents, ever uses.

Ducking here and there and making use of his ability to blend in —that he also only use occasionally—, he successfully reached his goal without any problem. He stepped inside the room. He threw a quick glance to make sure that no one was there. He stopped for a split second, before opening the window.

"Escaping?"

"_Hiiiie!_" Tsuna jumped. He turned around but met head on with...

Nothing.

"Who's there? Who are you?" the brunet shrieked.

He looked around to search for the source, for any hidden place where it could come from. But to no avail, the place was empty except for him. The cabinets were unable to hide anyone inside, as the doors were wide open, showing no one. Tsuna's gaze lingered on the sinks, then swayed over other corners of the room. Logically, there was no other possible place to shield anything human sized. But something told him that there was no doubt a presence there.

"There's no use looking for me," the voice ignored Tsuna's questions. "You're going to run away again, aren't you? Just like what you always do, huh Dame-Tsuna?"

At that name, the brunet visibly calmed down. No, correction— he suddenly stopped his pathetic demeanor and asked in a quiet tone, "What do you know?"

"I know, Dame-Tsuna, the pathetic loser who always ran away from everything. The no-good kid who can't be a man enough to stand for himself," the voice replied in the same tone, though Tsuna swore he heard a smirk in it.

Tsuna paused for a moment. Both the mysterious identity and he were left in an uncomfortable silence. The _Voice_, who seemed to _know_ him, waited for his response. A few second later, the reply did come under the guise of a soft murmur.

"Some things are better off if you leave it alone," the teen responded. He didn't want to say any thing else. He climbed on the window frame and was ready to jump off, but the annoying presence, not pleased with the answer, didn't seem to want to leave him alone.

"Oh really? Is that what you've being telling yourself? Making an excuse to chicken out?"

Tsuna stopped in his tracks. "**YOU-**"

"It's time to act, just for once? To take things into your hands and make a change. Go back and face Mochida. That Kyoko girl is counting on you."

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Middle School Gym.<strong>** After school, 3:36 PM. **

"It's pass the time already!"

"Tsk, I bet he ran away."

"Dame-Tsuna would always be Dame-Tsuna!"

The gym after school was filled with people. After all, it wasn't everyday that the kendo club captain would go over and challenge a useless weak guy, the famous no-good loser of the school. The fight itself promised so much to laugh at! Who would pass the chance to watch Dame-Tsuna make a fool of himself?

That is, _if_ he comes.

From the sidelines, Sasagawa Kyoko stood there uneasily. She still felt kind of bad for that Dame-Tsuna.

She really didn't want to be here. The presence of so many hypocrites who were there just to watch a poor guy being beaten up made her sick, especially when she is dragged into the whole affair.

Hana was using this chance to tease her again. "Mochida-Sempai is avenging the disrespect you were treated with this afternoon," her best friend had said as she dragged her into the gym. "He says 'I won't forgive the guy who made Kyoko cry'."

"I-I didn't cry!" the school-idol blushed, unhappy about the undignified accusation! How the hell can someone like Dame-Tsuna make her cry?

"Now, now, don't be hard on yourself!" another one of her friends giggled.

Kyoko scowled in her head. That's— "No! That's... I'm just in the same leadership class as Mochida-Sempai," she protested. _'And it's not my fault that he's all around me all the time...'  
><em>  
>Hana snickered at the redhead. Really... She was the only one that understood what her best friend was thinking. Hana knew that Kyoko wasn't as innocent and pure as she looked: the girl was very much aware of the guys surrounding her. Kyoko had always hated that when they were little, and Hana would help out. They both agreed on one thing: guys are and will stay as premature monkeys with no interest. Such are the males they meet with everyday. So Hana knew exactly what Kyoko was thinking. Though she doesn't exactly approve it... <em>'No use stopping her, huh? Oh well, this might be interesting.'<em> She smiled at her childhood best friend, "Guys belong to a guy's world. Let's just watch. Maybe they would prove themselves less the monkeys they are."

Mochida was really getting impatient. The useless brat wasn't coming. There was a big possibility that the trash escaped, but he couldn't afford that to happen. _'I might get a forfeit win, but this way, the plan wouldn't work.'_ And he needs it! He even prepared all the stuff like he was asked to!

"Where is that useless brat? He's fucking late!" Sweat was starting to form under his heavy equipment, he couldn't wait to get it off. _'Heavy, though not as heavy as...'_

At that moment the door burst open. The gym fell silent at the sight before them: Sawada 'Dame'-Tsuna actually came!

Tsuna walked towards the gym. The uncomfortable silence made his footsteps hesitate. The sole attention of those that were present was was concentrated on him. The pressure of the crowd was overwhelming: it suddenly made Tsuna regret the decision of coming.

_'Why am I doing this?'_

He didn't know how, but that _shadow_, that mysterious person, that thing convinced him to do something about the whole situation.

Steadying his thoughts, he walked towards his verdict. The calmness was no longer present, as the students have now recovered from their shock and were murmuring their thoughts. He proceeded to ignore the unpleasant mockery and faced Mochida.

"There you are, you fucking trash!"

Tsuna looked at Mochida: the upperclassman was dressed from head to toe in the typical kendo tournament set (minus the helmet). He was holding his shinai with his right hand, while looking half pissed, half pleased. The older student pointed his sword towards Tsuna as a declaration of war.

"God may forgive a piece of shit like you, but I won't! That's why it's my duty to punish a trash like you. I shall smite you!"

The older guy gestured to the setting. A normal kendo match, Tsuna concluded, however, something was off...

"Don't worry," Mochida continued, a giant smirk now plastered on his face because of the certain victory. "It's an easy duel that even an idiot like you can understand. The first who gets two points under ten minutes wins."

"Oh no!" Tsuna shrieked as expected. As a novice in Kendo, he would normally have no chance against the captain of the kendo club.

The swordsman smirked at the look on his opponent's face. Since Sawada came, everything would go just as planned. Now, to make sure the next stage is good... _'Give the weakling some hope and crush it down!' _

"But! Since you're a novice in kendo. So if you get an ippon (a point) off me, then you win! If you can't, then I win!" He smiled smugly. _'Now comes the crucial part of the plan! Kyoko, wait for me.'  
><em>  
>"The prize is of course—" The kendoka pointed his sword at 'the prize'. "SASAGAWA KYOKO!"<p>

"Pri-Prize?" Kyoko, who was watching from the sidelines in the front lines of the crowd, was surprised at the outcome of the event. _'Wha-what? I- This shouldn't be happening! He wasn't supposed to! It was supposed to keep Mochida occupied for a moment! Not for me beginning the sacrifice!'_

Hana scowled beside Kyoko. "Tsk, what a jerk," she commented. "And I thought all sempais were smart." She threw a quick glance at her best friend who just became the prize. _'Looks like her plan backfired. Oh well. Mochida will just face the wrath of an over protective older brother.'_

Kyoko panicked. Unluckily for her, some of Mochida's crazed fan girls were too caught up in the event and decided to grab her so she wouldn't escape. With no choice in the situation, her only hope was that Dame-Tsuna wins the match… _'Please! Dame-Tsuna! Sawada! You have to win this! I don't want to become Mochida's bitch!' _… Not that being Dame-Tsuna's bitch would be any better, but he's still easier to deal with._  
><em>  
>"Fine," Tsuna's words echoed in the gym room.<p>

Everyone was once more surprised by Tsuna. Did Dame-Tsuna just accept the match? Kyoko looked at the petite brunet with hope. It was just a bet now. Whatever will happen will depend on Tsuna's performance. Even if Dame Tsuna is weak... Maybe, just maybe...

"Bluffing, Sawada?" Mochida snickered. "Suit yourself. I'm still in lead in this battle. Even with a handicap, I won't loose to a prick like you." _'Especially with that tricked armor and shinai he will use. Those have enough weigh in it that Dame-Tsuna would slow down. Since he's already not athletic, no one would notice.'  
><em>  
>He gestured towards an armor lying on the ground. "This is your armor. We will start when you're ready."<p>

Tsuna walked towards the pile of clothes. He bent down and reached for it. However, he did not grab anything else but the sword which he would fight with. He gathered his courage, gripped the shinai with both hands and pointed the sword at Mochida's direction. "I-I'm ready."

"Pfff... HAHAHAHA! Only an idiot would run in without protection! Fine! If that's what you want!" He gave the referee a look.

The referee grinned evilly, getting the silent message, before raising his arm. "READY? BATTLE!"

Without hesitating, Tsuna was the first to act. He rushed towards Mochida while raising his sword above his head, ready to react whenever he would get close enough. Mochida however only grinned at the wimpy amateurish attack.

"Is that all you got?"

The sempai dodged the incoming weak swipe from the brunet.

"Did you think I'd hold back? Eat this! You peon!"

Mochida raised his sword over his head and struck at the brunet. Seeing the attack, Tsuna shrieked and dived for protection. However, unfortunately for him, it still hit him on his shoulder. The heavy and painful impact made Tsuna drop on his but. The boy groaned loudly, but it was still covered by the roar of the crowd.

"HAHA! DAME-TSUNA IS SUCH A LOSER!"

"KYAAA! GO MOCHIDA-SEMPAI! SO QUICK TO GET HIS FIRST POINT!"

Mochida had a smug look on his face for being showered with praise. The upperclassman was daydreaming about the wonderful result such a match would be in the end and how everyone would see his superiority.

Taking advantage of Mochida's momentary lapse of attention, Tsuna got back on his feet. He frowned. This match couldn't be won this head on. A normal and wimpy boy like him cannot win by simply charging in, so he did the logical thing to do in this situation: he ran.

And other stunned silence was heard, before laughter erupted even louder than before. "Who ever run away in a kendo match?" While everyone else laughed, Kyoko watched with worry. _'Come on Dame-Tsuna, you can do this! You have to do this!' _The brunet got hit under a minute and was bound to lose.

Tsuna paid no attention to them. He needed his whole concentration from this point on. He cannot afford to let anything slip. The shadow was watching him and he cannot let anything happen.

The small boy wasn't running away from the match, on the contrary. He was simply dodging unnecessary hits. About 9 minutes was still left and he had to score a believable point inside those nine minutes to win. However, for the sake of his reputation, he needed more time to do what he planned to do. And thus, he ran as Mochida chased him around the gym.

"Stop running around like a coward!" Mochida yelled after the circus had continued for another six minutes or so. His patience was at his limit, as was that of the crowd. _'This is no good. If this continues, even if the referee is at my side, I can't reach Sawada!'_

Tsuna just went faster, dicing to the left to evade that blow Mochida wanted to swing. Two more minutes…

Mochida panted. Something was wrong. Sawada was still running at the same pace, all the while he was getting slower. The weight of the armor didn't help either. If he doesn't finish this soon, he would lose face, even if he wins.

_'Time is up soon. I have to act.'_

In a surprising motion, Tsuna made a 180 degree turn and pointed his sword at Mochida's direction. Stunned by the unexpected motion, Mochida's mind went blank for a split second. However, he didn't stop running toward the other and closed in.

Tsuna steadied himself and stood in position to welcome the impact. This was a do-or-die situation. Either he would win, or Mochida would.

"LET'S END THIS SAWADA!" Using the momentum of his dash, Mochida raised his sword once again.

_'This is it, huh?' _Tsuna mused.

Everything was in slow motion to him. As Mochida took the step forward, as he did the same, as both swords were raised…

He felt a pang of regret cross his heart.

_'Why did I let some anonymous person talk me into this? Oh... That's right...'_

* * *

><p><em><strong>(Twenty minutes ago, boys' washroom)<strong>_

_"Oh really? Is that what you've being telling yourself? Making an excuse to chicken out?" the voice taunted._

_"YOU-"_

_Tsuna was furious, FURIOUS! Whoever this was didn't even know the slightest about him! How can they assume that even if they didn't know what they were thinking!_

_"Go back to face Mochida. That Kyoko girl is counting on you."_

_Counting? Counting on whom? Those were just empty words. No one counted on him. Even his own mother had long accepted —deemed— him to be the useless person he was. Counting? Who ever would?_

_He proceeded to ignore the voice of the unknown person and just jump out—_

_"...And do it so you have no regrets, Tsuna."_

* * *

><p>From afar, the shadow smirked at the events going on in the gym. "Good job, Dame-Tsuna. Looks like you got some guts after all. But this is still the end, you won't do this alone. It's time for me to show you how it's done."<p>

He pointed his sniper riffle and fired a single shot.

* * *

><p><em>'No regrets, huh?'<em> Tsuna mused. That somehow calmed the inner storm in his heart. That thought was comforting, like a long lost lullaby he had heard a long time ago. Even if he had the feeling that everything would change from now on, it —somehow— felt like the right thing to do.

He could hear the faint the whistling of a gun shot being fired from afar.

He closed his eyes at the upcoming blow.

And then...

**"POINT!"**

And a body dropped with a thud.

The whole gym went silent as that person didn't get up. The one left standing was still holding the sword down from the blow. He panted as he looked at his motionless opponent in front of him.

"THE VICTORY GOES TO— **MOCHIDA**!"

Mochida stood there. Of course everything had been so simple. But to actually face the outcome of his plans is just…

"Ahaha! You won! That stupid weak guy didn't stand a chance against you!"

"Haha! Well, we have to give him some credit. I mean! He did last a minute longer than we thought! Not bad for a useless person like him! "

But he heard none of those. He only had eyes for Kyoko. His eyes searched frantically for her in the crowd.

Said redhead was sulking for the outcome. She cursed Sawa… Dame-Tsuna, who was now lying unconscious from the blow he received. _'Of course, what do you expect? Dame-Tsuna that flunked all his tests, Dame-Tsuna that failed gym class, Dame-Tsuna that's useless. Kyoko, this is what happens when you hope for the wrong person… Ha! Then again, Dame-Tsuna would have been even worse than Mochida.' _She turned on her heels to leave, her friend Hana following her, understanding what would come next. But somewhere in her heart, a small part twisted in pain.

Not seeing Kyoko at all, Mochida ignored the want to search for her. After all Kyoko would be his girlfriend from now on, so no need to get hasty.

"Oi! Mochida! Kyoko is yours now!"

"Yeah... Kyo...ko... is mine..."

However, he got the nagging feeling that something was wrong. However, it couldn't be right? Because everything had gone just the way he liked it ... He pushed away the feeling to the back of his mind. After all, Kyoko was his now.

Somewhere afar, a shadow lowered his hat over his eyes. _'How?' _was the one word question that kept ringing in his mind, as he saw the actions of the teen named Sawada Tsunayoshi.

_How did Dame-Tsuna dodge the dying will bullet?_

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan. <strong>**Evening, 5:23pm. **

"Tsu-kun! I'm home!"

Nana emitted a sigh of relief as she put her grocery bags down and bent over to take off her shoes.

Tsuna, who was upstairs in his room, quickly hid the concealer in the one of the clothes/paper/trash piles in one corner of the rooms and flushed the blood stained tissues in the toilet. Knowing his mom must be tired from the bag carrying, he hurried downstairs to help his mom putting the groceries in place.

"Welcome home mom," he greeted with a wide smile.

"Oh my," Nana giggled as she hugged her only son. "Thank you, Tsu-kun. You're really growing up, aren't you?"

Tsuna laughed while he put away the other stuff, being careful no to flinch as he strained his sore shoulder. Tsuna was glad that Nana seemed have not noticed any of his pain. He wouldn't want her to worry more than she did.

"So, Tsu-kun, how was school today?"

"Ahaha, it was great as usual, mom."

The mother raised an inquiring eyebrow. "Oh really, now," she said, not buying it. She pulled out from nowhere a piece of paper and started pointing at the big red marks on it. "Great, huh? Sawada Tsunayoshi who got a 27 on his last math test?"

"I-I... _What?_Where did you get that, mom! I thought I hid them!"

"Geez, Tsu-kun. If these are your so called 'greats', then you need to improve!" she scolded her son. Tsuna looked away. Nana had always had the ability to make anyone feel like a badly behaved child. Suddenly, his mother's expression went from unhappy to that of excitement. She remembered something that brought her back to her happy mood. She clapped her hand together and giggled, "Oh, I just remembered! I got a flyer this morning about a home tutor and I gave a call!~ He should be here soon. Now I won't have to worry about your grades anymore! Now, go and get your stuff ready to meet your new teacher!"

Tsuna's jaw dropped. His protests were ignored by her mom who went back to la-la-land.

Tsuna frowned as he climbed the painful stairs. It was an awful coincidence that he would get a tutor today of all day. The weird feeling he had gotten all morning had proven itself right. And the mysterious shadow that had been following him since the morning was the proof. Especially after said-shadow offered him 'advice' on the fight against Mochida. But he couldn't feel the shadow's stare on his back anymore... Where had it gone?

He almost didn't notice the kick to his stomach that sent him flying across the room. He crashed to the wall and dropped with a 'thud'. Coughing to breathe better, the brunet slowly sat up. He flinched at the newly made bruise on his back, plus the already existing one from the fight against Mochida. All sense alert (even if he didn't look like it), he inwardly cursed his luck, today really wasn't going well. It wasn't at all like he planned on. Why did everything suddenly go wrong? What happened so everything went differently from normal?

It started from…

The presence was still there.

He turned back, and looked at the person, the thing, standing in his room. It was the same mysterious person that had been following him since the morning. His eyes were wide however since he was not expecting the sight before him. It wasn't that of a fully capable adult that matched the sinister dark aura the presence was emitting. Instead, the baby in front of him was barely tall enough to reach his knees, probably aging only a year or two old. He wore a black (and expensively looking) customized suit from head to toe, with a matching fedora decorated by an orange ribbon. A green lizard-like creature rested on top of the rim of his hat, with big yellow eyes that were too disturbingly cute. The baby's curly side burns was just as cute with the rest of the outfit; it stood out like a trademark feature. The only thing that you would find on a normal baby was the bright yellow pacifier he wore around his neck.

The infant looked up. Two, huge, pitch black, innocent eyes, baby eyes stared right into his.

Tsuna stared in horror as what the dark eyes pits truly meant: bottomless abyss that already swallowed many, many innocent lives. The same seemingly harmless eyes that now had him as the newest prey.

"Tsk, I have to say, Dame-Tsuna. You impressed me today on your fight with Mochida. However, you still have a lot to learn before you become a suitable Mafia boss."

As a reflex, the middle-school student flinched and moved backwards, back stumbling to the wall.

"Wha- _HIIIIE!_ Wh-Why i-is a baby here?" Then it clicked. The shadow that had been following him around all day was… The one who pushed him into the battle against Mochida was…

The infant was unfazed by the question, totally expecting it. Instead, he stared at the Dame student in front of him. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't find any thing unusual in the teen's reactions. They both participated in a one sided glaring contest, both analyzing the situation in their own way. The infant's innocent eyes, Tsuna's fear-filled eyes…

Without Tsuna having time to react, the baby simply pointed his gun at the brunet's head.

"Ciaossu. I'm your new home tutor from Italy and I'll be teaching you the ways of a mafia boss. My name—"

And the cute, innocent baby-smile turned into a smirk as the safety of the gun clicked off.

"—is Reborn."

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: **

Ok, ok. Before anyone corrects me on anything, I want to point out: I consider the MANGA as canon, not the Anime. What comes first decided the end.  
>And thus, Reborn's gun isn't Leon. Seriously, how did Reborn shoot the dying will bullet in the fight against Lancia if Leon was acting up?<p>

I'M SORRY! -Dodges plates and tomatoes- I think everyone was expecting Tsuna to win against Mochida... But I made it otherwise. I said Tsuna was Dark, not Gary Stu. But... Let's just say he has other ways of dealing. And sorry about the weak fighting scene! I love action but I can't write them well! D:

Em, is this part considered Kyoko bashing? Sorry, that was not intentional. I just wanted to give her more of a character than she already is in the manga. I want to make her complex, while 'in character' from the surface. The same would go on to all the other characters. To love this Kyoko or to hate her, it's your choice.

Ahaha… I made this too long again… Seriously… 8k words and 21 pages in Microsoft Word? O_o _Waaaaay toooo loooong!_ I kinda wanted to separate this in two chapters when I saw the numbers of words, but it just didn't feel right… So instead, I'm making the wait longer… However don't expect these long chapters to happen this often!

Also, _**how close would you like me to stick to canon?**_ I can't go too far away, but I don't want to make this canon either… So I need you guys' opinion…

**Read and review!**It makes this author motivated and you'll get your chapters faster. Even a word is enough to make me know you care! :D

_**Next time: **__Tsuna faces the aftermath of the battle. A certain Sasagawa sibling is unhappy with his sister's newest position. And a certain tutor is scheming for death._


	3. Chapter 2: The One Named Reborn

**A big thanks to reviewers:**

**The stalker from your closet, kaito kitsune, EK12, PinaGrin, Stargazer, Bleach-ed-Na-tsu, xNereikax, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Kuro-chan, xXxShiniXKazexXx, HiKaRi-ChIbI, TripOverFlatSurfaces, Nana, Horaiken, hokkyokusei, CH0C0CANDYZ, Undyingfaith, skepsis66, Semifully, Otaku HoLic, x. Yuee.x**

**I have to say again, it's you guys that motivate me to continue writing! :D**

**GIANT THANKS TO: **xXxShiniXKazexXx** who helped me filling out the blanks and for being an unofficial beta~** (You're awesome *hugs*)**  
><strong>

Thanks for those who answered to the question of last chapter! I would always take suggestions/ideas/things you might want to see in the story!

Anyway, as always, A/N goes in the end of the chapter (but please do read them if you can, they can be important sometimes) So let's start with the usual! (disclaimers, warnings…)

* * *

><p><strong>Warning: <strong>major OOCness, a not-so-perfect Mafia (well, not as perfect as KHR's), blood (gore later on?), swearing, etc. Dark and Psycho Tsuna. And different timeline + other non-canon stuff.

**Disclaimer:**I never understood why we had to do disclaimers… I mean, it's obvious that we don't own it… =_=;

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 2: The one named Reborn**

* * *

><p><em>"Ciaossu. I'm your new home tutor from Italy and I'll be teaching you the ways of a mafia boss. My name—"<em>

_And the cute, innocent baby-smile turned into a smirk as the safety of the gun clicked off._

_"—is Reborn."_

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan. Evening, 5:42pm.<strong>

Reborn remained impassive, his silver gun pointed at his new student's head. Despite how ridiculously unreal the situation would seem to anyone else, it was definitely real.

Tension was evident; the aura was nearly a palpable mass that floated around both individuals. No one moved a single step, and each contented to look at the other. However, both held different emotions inside their gaze. The gun that the baby was holding didn't seem like those plastic toys at all. This was no joke and both knew, even if Tsuna didn't seem to want to admit.

Reborn observed his student's movements. His huge black eyes betrayed nothing but deep unreadable darkness. However, those same dark pitches was analysing everything his target had to offer: from every little shiver, to every twitch of the face. The hitman wanted, no, _needed_ to evaluate his student.

Facing reborn was the teenage boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi. The Japanese boy was also observing. His face, however, wasn't a neutral one like Reborn's had been.

At first glance, the hitman concluded, Sawada Tsunayoshi was just any normal, bellow average guy. Those brown unruly hair stood up in a gravity defying way. The boy had caramel brown eyes were too big for a boy, and a matching small body that looked just as frail. He had nothing special, maybe except for that dameness air around him that was quite hard to ignore. The baby had assumed that he would be teaching another kid that was like his former blond student. Even in the report he got from Nono, a report that was written by the best spies of Vongola, Tsuna was the clumsy useless type.

But it seemed that something had gone wrong during the process.

_How? _

During the fight earlier today, Reborn had planned everything perfectly, so that his student would be able to receive the dying will bullet, and thus win the little match. However Dame-Tsuna hadn't received the bullet in his head like planned, the Dying Will bullet whistling past him at the last second. Was it coincidence? Reborn doubted that Tsuna had any skills yet, but as long as there remained a single percent chance that it wasn't due to luck, he had to stay alert.

It wasn't hard for Reborn to notice the slide trembling of Tsuna's body, nor the wide eyed saucers directed at him. The hitman watched as many, many different emotions flashed on the teen's face like a slide show. That face that contorted into a twirl of… surprise… incomprehension… fear… confusion… anger… and…

Something else flashed through those caramel eyes, something that went by so fast that Reborn couldn't put a hand on. But after a while, a single emotion lingered: that of disbelief…

"Wha-? _HIEEE!_ _What are you talking about_?" the brunet finally let out an ear destroying shriek.

Reborn frowned in his mind. Somehow, the reaction was disappointing. _'But wasn't this what you expected? What _should_ happen?' _

He shrugged it off. Gun still pointing at his new student, he responded, "You heard me, Dame-Tsuna. Don't make me repeat myself. From today on, I will be your new tutor. I'll be in charge of your studies as well as your training… But most importantly, I'll prepare you to become the perfect mafia boss."

"Wh-"

_**BANG! BANG! BANG!**_

"I said: don't make me repeat myself."

This time, Tsuna only nodded silently, trembling at the sound of gunshots. The wall around him now had three new, fuming bullet holes. Yap, that gun was real indeed. He nodded, making sure to keep his mouth shut so that the baby had no excuse to shoot him. Pleased with the respond, Reborn continued, "Your mother would know me as the newly hired tutor she had phoned this morning. She will think that she was the one who chose me to be here. Though, that's the appearance only. My real job is assassination. Unluckily for me, I've been assigned to train a brat like you by Nono to become a suitable heir to the family."

"Wh-who?"

"Now, should I shoot you again?"

Tsuna cringed.

However, the baby did answer his question. "Nono is the ninth generation leader of the Vongola Famiglia. Since he is getting old, he is planning to pass on his status as the boss. In other words, you are to become the tenth generation leader of the world's largest and most influential Mafia Family."

It took a long moment for Sawada Tsunayoshi to let the new information sink in. Reborn waited patiently this time, because he understood how such things can came to be a shock. After a while, the now future mafia boss snapped out of his daze and shrieked again, "W-wait! If this is true, then it's not something to kid with!"

"Oh? Are you questioning me?"

"N-no! I…"

Reborn was pleased by the brunet's expected reaction. Slowly, he backed down from the brunet, lowering his gun. He was amused by the way the boy left out a sigh of relief at the action.

Tsuna stayed silent for a while, not wanting to anger his 'tutor' even more. But when he saw the other had no intention of continuing (and instead waiting for the follow up of Tsuna's statement), he risked, "I… was wondering… why _me_? Shouldn't there be other candidates as well? I'm sure the mafia doesn't lack better and more skilled people."

Reborn smirked at this. "Looks like you're not that hopeless." Ouch, a hit on Tsuna's pride. "Let's just say that the other candidates… aren't _available_ anymore. So the only candidate left is you."

"Eeek! And why am I a candidate anyway!"

Tsuna was amazed as the green lizard thing on Reborn's hat morphed into a green paper of some sort. "And Leon is a chameleon, not a green lizard thing," Reborn corrected. On the greenish paper, there was some sort of a family tree, which Tsuna could see that it was theirs, as his name was on the bottom, right under Iemitsu's.

"When the Vongola Famiglia's first Don retired at an early age, he chose to stay at Japan. And that was your great-great-great-grandfather," the suit wearing baby explained. "So in a way, you're part of the family bloodline and posses the blood qualification necessary to be a Vongola boss. It makes you a legitimate candidate for the position."

"Then how come I never heard of this?"

"Mafia secret is not disclosed to those who are not part of the underworld."

Tsuna grabbed his head, pulling on the brown locks in a sign of exasperation. "This… This is too much! How can you expect me to believe this all of the sudden?"

"Be a man and suck it up, don't keep running away. Don't worry, I'll make you into a fine mafia boss. I'll teach you to beat people like Mochida."

"Y-YOU! IT WAS YOU! YOU WERE THE VOICE IN THE BATHROOM! THE ONE THAT MADE ME FIGHT MOCHIDA!"

"Yes, and it was a lame fight."

"NO! I DON'T WANT TO BE TRAINED BY A CRAZY BABY LIKE YOU WITH YOUR MAFIA GIBERISH! SEE HOW YOUR TAINNING METHODS ARE ALREADY LAME!"

Tsuna received a painful whack on his head that brought tears to his eyes. "OW, OW, OW!" He started to rub that sore spot on his head so the pain might hopefully fade away.

"Don't question my ability as a tutor."

This was the prelude of a life time of abuse, Tsuna knew it: his guts told him so. If he didn't stop Reborn now, things would go downhill. He can't let Reborn stay in the house. He wasn't ready for it. Because… "Don't be ridiculous! I would never be a mafia boss! I don't want to be trained by a Spartan baby like you!"

"You still haven't learned your lesson, have you, Tsuna? You're the only candidate left. So _like it or not_, you are now involved in the mafia. Either you chose to stay or run away, you will be targeted by the enemy families and assassins. It's better to train before you lose your life. _Mafia is not a game_, Dame-Tsuna. There's no place for the weak. If you want to say something, become stronger and make them actually listen to you."

Tsuna's eyes darkened. He clenched his fists and bit his tongue, preventing other words from escaping his mouth. Luckily for him, his expression was not seen by Reborn as the baby hitman had his back turned and was proceeding towards the bedroom's door.

"Your training will start tomorrow so get ready. You'll need it tomorrow."

"BUT-"

Reborn however, just promptly ignored him. "Be glad it's not tonight. I'm going down for dinner. Come down only when you finish your homework. And better do it fast, before the food runs out."

A few minutes after Reborn left, Tsuna was still standing at the same place. However, unlike the face of the panicked teenage boy that had just been introduced to mafia he had a moment ago, this time, his eyes showed something different. His eyes narrowed slightly, flashing orange, but quickly returned back to their normal color. Every muscle of the boy's body tensed.

"This is gonna be troublesome."

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada Residence. The next morning, 7:41 AM. <strong>

Tsuna blinked as he was awaken by an uneasy feeling in his stomach. This didn't happen often... But his guts told him he was in immediate danger. His instincts told him he was forgetting something very important, but he couldn't put his hands on it. Carefully, he slowly opened his eyes...

…and was met face to face with a giant one ton hammer.

"_HIIIIIE!_"

Downstairs, Sawada Nana was cooking breakfast. "Geez. Tsu-kun is so noisy this morning."

"ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME REBORN!" shrieked Tsuna as he backed away to the wall, trying to get as far from the hitman as possible. His mind flashed yesterday's events and he blanched. How can he forget the presence of someone like Reborn?

Reborn smirked as the green hammer disappeared in his hands and something green slipped up his fedora.

"But you didn't, did you, my no-good student?"

"That's... THAT'S NOT THE POINT! Can't you wake me up normally!"

"I tried, but you wouldn't wake up. Something about 'five more minutes'. Now get up, Dame-Tsuna. You need to get up for school or Hibari-san would bite you to death."

"_Hiiie_? How did you know about Hibari-san?"

"I can read your mind, Dame-Tsuna."

_'Yeah, right. Stupid, spartan baby.!'_

Reborn kicked Tsuna on the head. Hard. Tsuna groaned. He had a feeling a bruise would form there soon.

"I'm not stupid nor am I spartan. Now, get dressed. You have five minutes to get ready for breakfast or I'll shoot you."

"OK! _OK!_ I'M GOING!"

Then Tsuna screamed. "AND _YOU_! GET OUT OF MY ROOM WHEN I'M CHANGING!"

Six minutes and a lot of suspicious noises later (which included but was not limited to banging, groaning, things crashing, bombs exploding, dogs barking), a messy haired brunet limped down the stairs, almost tripping on two occasions. His uniform had several burn marks, tears and other unnamable stuff on it.

In the kitchen, Reborn was sitting calmly, taking his time in enjoying a cup of espresso, looking more in peace than anything in the world. Tsuna's mother was wearing her usual pink apron and was scrambling a piece of egg. She was humming another random tune, not even a bit bothered by the alarming noises the brunet had made upstairs (did she even hear _anything_ _at all_?) On the table where Reborn was sitting, there laid two empty plates. Not two plates that was waiting to be filled, but two that was just emptied. Tsuna looked at the scene, left eye twitching. Somehow, this scene was so wrong that he couldn't even put a hand on it.

And then, a split second later, a spoon hit his forehead. Great. Another bruise.

"I said 5 minutes, Dame-Tsuna. You're 1 minute and 13 seconds late."

"HOW CAN I WHEN YOU BOOBY TRAPPED MY ROOM WITH... YOUR WEIRD STUFF!"

The baby totally ignored him. "A mafia boss should always be ready for danger."

If be was in an Anime, Tsuna would swear an giant, red, angry vein mark would pop up on his forehead. _'Why...' _Then he noticed something. Yes, the empty plates. _'Shouldn't my breakfast be ready by now?'  
><em>  
>"You're late, so I helped myself. In the mafia, the early bird gets the worm. You better remember that."<p>

"Ah, sorry, Tsu-kun," Tsuna's mom finally noticed her son. "Reborn-kun was hungry. Give me some more time so I can prepare you some more."

"Don't bother, Mama," Reborn injected. "Tsuna is already late for school. He has to hurry before he's late."

Nana giggled. "Is that so? Well then, have fun at school, Tsu-kun!"

Reborn kicked in the stomach Tsuna. "Go now."

Half a minute later, Tsuna somehow found himself in front of his house's door. He could only gape like the tuna fish he was.

_'Did... Did I just get kicked out?'_

Tsuna walked on the streets of Namimori alone. As always, there was no one to join him on his trip to the school. However, what pleased Tsuna greatly was that Reborn didn't follow.

It's not that he minded the training (OK, he did mind. A lot. But that's not the point), it was more like Reborn's presence threatened him and some of his activities.

However, from what he had observed thus far, the home tutor doesn't always follow him.

Like this morning, Reborn was downstairs for his morning espresso. Or how the hitman had woken up and slipped away when he though Tsuna was sleeping. He couldn't feel Reborn's presence either, until much later when he almost reached the school.

About fifteen minutes of walk, he found himself in front of the classroom's door. For once, Tsuna was extremely early. The good side was that he didn't get bitten to death. The bad side however...

The brunet gulped and hesitantly put his hand on the doorknob. He could hear students speaking inside the classroom that was marked as A-1. He could pick his name up a couple of times in different conversations the students where having. The name of Mochida was also heard as much.

No doubt they were talking about him.

"AHAHA! DAME-TSUNA TRIED TO FIGHT MOCHIDA-SEMPAI!"

"He tried-"

"-and yet still lost!"

"AHAHA! A LOSER WILL ALWAYS BE A LOSER!"

"Geez, I can't understand, how can someone be so lame?"

"Geez, Kyoko-chan. Aren't you happy that Mochida won? At least you won't have Dame-Tsuna on your back!"

Tsuna almost turned around. But he resolved himself to stay. _'Don't forget it, Tsuna. Reborn is watching you. You can't show weakness.' _And thus, he turned the doorknob, hoping that everything would turn out fine.

* * *

><p><strong>- Dark!27 says time skip –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Outside of Nami-Middle, Japan. Afterschool.<strong>

There were many things Sawada Tsunayoshi could predict: future events, unexpected development, people… His 'instincts'—this gut feeling he always had— would never betray him, it always told him what he needed to know, what he should be aware of, be it people or surroundings. This was always the base that offered the insight necessary to predict the reaction of the people surrounding him, this time in a rational way instead of just a feeling.

But somehow, as he lied there, crouched against the hard concrete floor of the school grounds, he couldn't help but to wonder why, _why_ he didn't had _this_inside his calculations. Perhaps it was the arrival of that hitman named Reborn that disturbed the pace of his work. Actually, he was sure that the match with Mochida was also caused by the home tutor.

The one beating him up wasn't one to bully others. The records in Tsuna's notebook showed that this person wasn't one to do so: this person might be hot headed, but he never had an ugly reputation. Many people were unhappy about his brashness, yes, but no one ever accused him of anything low such as bullying.

But then again, they were all...

Of course.

There was _no one_—had never been anyone that would protect him...

(But, once upon a time, there used to be his Onii—)

_'I didn't think that losing to Mochida would be this troublesome. Even someone like him who never bullies is involved.'_Tsuna mused, as he recalled what led to this.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(Roughly ten minutes ago)<strong>_

_He suddenly felt a wind rushing towards his face, before a painful hit landed on his right cheek and sent him flying. It took him by surprise. School had just finished and he hoped he would be gone without more problems then the increased bullying he had gotten all day. But hey, when did his wish ever come true? However, the punch didn't hurt as much as the yelling that came afterwards._

_"ARE YOU THE BOY WHO HAD BEEN FLIRTING AROUND MY SISTER TO THE EXTREME?" Yap, it was definitely enough to male one's ears explode._

_The first thing Tsuna saw when he sat up was two fiery grey eyes were locked upon him. The brunet could almost swear he could see golden flames dancing in that person's eyes. Then, there was the short white hair. Finally, there was the noticeable scar on the left eyebrow and the band aid on the nose. Someone?_

_"W-what? Who? I-"_

_The future mafia boss didn't understand why he was a victim of the boxing club captain Sasagawa Ryohei. What did he do, except for being useless? His overloaded (Reborn's fault) brain couldn't understand. And sister? Who was he talking about about?_

_Seeing that the small boy's puzzled expression, the boxing fanatic picked the younger one up by the collar and yelled, "YOU'RE THE GUY NAMED SAWADA, AREN'T YOU TO THE EXTREME?"_

_Tsuna flinched again, but luckily, he was getting used to the loudness. He simply nodded slightly at the mention of his own name._

_Hearing that, Ryohei's expression returned to being fired up after a slight moment of confusion. "SO YOU ARE THE ONE THAT'S BEEN HARASSING KYOKO!"_

_That's when it finally clicked in Tsuna's head! Of course! The same last name! He was-_

_"S-Sasagawa-sempai? You're Sasagawa-san's older_

_b-brother?"_

_"OF COURSE, SAWADA! NOW, WHAT DID YOU DO TO MAKE HER CRY?"_

_Tsuna just noticed how he didn't deny that he was harassing others._

_"Wh-? I… NO! I didn't do anything!"_

_However, Tsuna's pleas fell on deaf ears, as the obstinate boxer didn't want to hear more._

_"NO ONE MAKE KYOKO CRY!"_

_Being the overprotective older brother, Kyoko would always come before anything else for Ryohei, even if it was irrational, unfair, selfish or destructed. That was simply how far Ryohei would go for his baby sister, to even break rules..._

* * *

><p><strong>(Currently)<strong>

The white haired boy had punching Tsuna, pouring out his heavy overprotectiveness.

After a while, Tsuna stopped counting anymore. How many times had he been hit? Ten? Twenty? Thirty? He stopped count after that. But somehow, it hurt more than it usually do. These punches he received were heavy and destructed, like the burning rays of the sun.

Tsuna gritted his teeth. He didn't expect Nami-Middle to have another tough opponent. But he had to endure, even if he knew the fight could be serious this time around. He knew that Reborn was still in the school and wondered why the baby wasn't interfering. Though it meant limiting his options and had to play the bullied boy again. He wasn't ready to blow his cover yet.

Luckily for the mafia boss in training, the boxer decided it was enough. Tsuna coughed and wiped off the red-tainted spit that started to form on the corner if his mouth.

"I EXTREMELY DON'T WANT TO SEE YOU NEAR KYOKO EVER AGAIN!" the sempai exclaimed. "STAY AWAY OR I EXTREMELY WON'T FORGIVE YOU! YOU DON'T WANT SOMETHING UNEXTREME TO HAPPEN TO YOU!"

Tsuna coughed and nodded weakly in confirmation. "I-I'm sorry Sas-sagawa-sempai, if I did anything to hurt your sister... It wasn't... my intention to in-involve her with the incident with Mochida-sempai... I won't approach... Sasagawa-san..."

"EXTREME! DON'T FORGET THAT SAWADA! MEN DON'T BREAK THEIR PROMISES."

"Uh-Ah? M-_men? Promises?_" Tsuna gaped, completely taken aback by what the boxer said. He would almost sweatdrop if he didn't just get a terrible beating and was hurt.

"YEAH! MEN DON'T BREAK PROMISES! AND YOU'RE A MAN"

"A-ah... Right...?" Now, now... Was he just called a man? Now it's like the first time that happened in a long time! No one had ever (not his mom, not his classmates, his teachers) _ever_ treated him like he was a man

Instead it was only… weakling, son, herbivore, useless, cute little boy, looser… (_"Tsuna-chan~! You can call me onii-chan from now on!~ And you'll be my cute little brother!~"_)

"I'LL NEED TO EXTREMELY GO AND TRAIN NOW, SAWADA!"

Tsuna couldn't say anything as he was still dumbfounded. He watched as Ryohei started jogging to the extreme. But even after the boxer was gone, he was still standing in that same position. The reason was because those last words the boxer had said before leaving. No one had ever said it with truth before. No one had actually meant it when they say it. No one had said it with other than mockery and pity. And yet, it came from the mouth of someone who had just beaten him up!

"YOU ARE— You are a good guy to the extreme, Sawada!"

It was almost as if his heart had warmed up just a little.

_Almost. _

* * *

><p>Somewhere, as a pair of green binocular shifted back to its original lizard form, a certain hitman smirked with interest. "I didn't think such a secluded school would have such a potential." but then, he frowned. <em>'However... Dame-Tsuna's attitude won't do... There's something wrong with his view on life... It's... not something someone his age should have... I need to find out more.'<em>

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Afternoon, 3:52pm. Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan.<strong>

Tsuna slammed the door as he got in his bedroom. He dropped to the bed with a thud, but soon regretted it when he winced in pain. Sadly, he didn't have any other choice but to ignore it, being too worn out to do anything. He planned to rest, just for a while; to get some peace alone before his mother would come home.

"Home, Dame-Tsuna?"

The newly self-appointed tutor appeared from nowhere and jumped on the bed. The baby took a deep examination of the brunet.

Tsuna cringed. He was thinking too much about Sasagawa-san's brother that he almost forgot that he would be facing Reborn.

The teenage boy turned around, not at all ready to face his tutor. He groaned in annoyance at the obvious question, "Do you even need to ask?"

"What happened?"

The teen rolled his eyes. "Aren't you supposed to be the greatest hitman in the world or something?" Tsuna suggested with an unhidden tone of sarcasm. "Don't you know everything?"

_**BANG!**_

"_HIIIIE! _WHAT'S THAT FOR REBORN?" Tsuna jumped and screamed as he looked at the newly-made, fuming bullet hole right beside his head. One more centimeter closer and he would have left this world.

"It's true," Reborn smirked as he took out a handkerchief from his pocket and started wiping his gun. "But take off the sarcasm from that statement." Reborn then continued to glare-interrogate his Dame student for an answer while cleaning, as if the bruises on the teen wasn't already enough to answer his question. "And don't roll your eyes at me."

Tsuna sighed and looked away. He knew how stubborn Reborn can be, it's better to answer now if he didn't want to be threatened again. "What else? It's just the usual. Getting hit, running away, getting stolen from, running away. It's just... Today, it was twice the pain because of the fight..."

Reborn frowned (no, it was definitely not a pout), remembering what happened at the fight with the dying will bullet he shot. That bullet... that Dame-Tsuna dodged. "Keep going."

"But Reborn! There's nothing else to say!"

The hitman glared at his student.

Tsuna gulped. He hesitated for a moment, before finally continuing, "Mochida's fangirls tried to... throw me over the window for standing up to him... Some guys in my class destroyed my books again... They're… completely unsalvageable this time. I got more bullies behind my back... And twice as much beating because I gave everything to the first group of bullies..."

_'...and the disgusted glares behind my back... The name-callings, the other little tricks... Sixteen people who told me to just die because I'm useless, and one more saying that even death don't want me... And Sasagawa-san's older brother... But you saw all that didn't you, Reborn?'_

Tsuna dropped back to the bed again. "... Just because of that fight... "

'_I know you have been observing everything the whole time. But, don't worry, you have seen what I wanted you to see. And you will make your conclusions based on those actions.'_

"I told you to win, Tsuna. Not to lose at the end."

"Then what could I have done! Me, the no-good, '_**Dame**_'-Tsuna!"

Reborn lowered his head, letting his fedora shadow his eyes. He wondered if it would be good to tell his student yet. But seeing the stunt Tsuna had pulled up the other day by evading the bullet (intentional or not), he decided he would test the waters first.

"Tell me Dame-Tsuna, do you regret it, the result of the fight?"

Tsuna stayed silent for a long period of time. After forever, he finally broke the uncomfortable silence. "...**No.**"

Reborn absorbed the information, all smirk now absent from his face. He wondered why the other wasn't regretting. Either the other was lying (no, Tsuna wasn't. Reborn could see as much as he looked into Tsuna's eyes) or he truly wasn't regretting. If the latter was the case, then it would be troublesome.

Reaching a hand into his pocket, he pulled out a small piece of shiny metal. Curious, Tsuna looked from the corner of his eyes at the hitman. Reborn brandished the metal piece in front of the brunet's eyes.

Tsuna observed the thing carefully. It was a bullet, one of the varieties that Reborn used. It had an unusual color, a deep metallic-silver color with a reddish tint, that wasn't standard for normal bullet. Tsuna guessed it must be a special, custom made one. He could also make out some design on it, but couldn't see it well.

"This," Reborn started "is the trademark bullet the Vongola Famiglia. It's called the Dying Will Bullet. It has the ability to bring out the power of the Dying Will Flames."

"The Dying Will Flames?"

Tsuna's ears perked. He sat up straight and looked at Reborn in the eyes.

"Yes. The Dying Will Flames."

Reborn threw the bullet, which Tsuna caught. He began examining more of the bullet, one which was supposed to bring out flames. Taking closer look, he could distinguish elaborate engravings that represented flames. All in all, the bullet was beautifully made, and was worthy the graciousness of the world-class hitman.

"You should have noticed too," Reborn continued while Tsuna was examining "this isn't a just customized and decorated bullet. It has a small propriety that grants special powers to the one who gets shot by it. The most notable and important part of its abilities is when it is shot to the head. It gives you unnameable strength that surpasses the normal."

Tsuna stopped and looked at Reborn. "What about the flying pill flames thing you mentioned?"

"It's the _Dying Will Flame_, Dame-Tsuna. Remember it, or I'll drill it into your head." Tsuna shivered. "During the Dying Will mode, a flame will appear on your forehead. That flame is the characteristic of the Vongola Famiglia. Since the first generation, every Vongola boss has been using it as a way to battle. Obviously, I'll be teaching you how to use it as well."

"Really? It will get me stronger?"

"Yes. However, there's a limit. Five minutes. That's how long it last. Dying Will means your body is in the state wherein all safety switches are off. So, in exchange of risking one's life and breaking the limits, you can harness amazing strength. But most importantly, it needs a condition to be activated. It all depends on that."

"And what is-"

"Regret."

"Wh-"

"You need to regret, or you die. The DW Bullet lets you accomplish the thing you regret the most at the moment of your death."

Suddenly, it clicked in Tsuna's head as to why Reborn asked the question a few minutes before, literally. Reborn had his gun at Tsuna's temple, ready to shoot with the special bullet.

"WAIT! WAIT! REBORN! **_DON'T SHOOT!_**"

Slightly surprised, Reborn halted in his act.

"I..." the future mafia boss started.

The hitman frowned, if Tsuna was hesitating because the reason he think it is, teaching him might not be very easy. Reborn listened carefully for what his student would say; silently hoping it was not what he though it was.

"Well?"

"I... It won't work. I... I _can't_ regret. No matter what I do, how much I get beaten up, how much I fail, how much I'm a loser, I can't regret. Even if... I were to die right now, I can't. I... would simply be glad... for it to be over."

The infant lowered his gun. He read the teen's body language. Tsuna wasn't lying. The home tutor had suspected that much since when he saw the reaction to his words when he first encouraged his student to fight.

Tsuna looked down, his bangs shadowing his face. The boy was shaking slightly. His hands were at each side of his body, balled into fists. He let out a halfhearted chuckle, "Ahaha... I'm pretty pathetic, am I, Reborn? There are so many things I could have done differently, but I don't even have the will power to regret."

However, he was jolted out of the gloomy mood by a kick from Reborn.

"Baka-Tsuna. That's what I'm here for, right? I will train you so you become a perfect Mafia boss, with or without the need of a Dying Will Bullet.

"We will continue our training. Don't think of that as an excuse to slack off."

"_Ieeek!_Ok! Ok, Reborn! I'll do it!"

"Now hurry up and do your homework. I'll be checking in half an hour. You better get them all right or else."

Leon seemed to have changed into something looking suspiciously as a giant knife, before turning back into a lizard form. Tsuna could only let out a strained laugh as he sweated bullets. Reborn jumped down the bed and walked out of the room. Tsuna let out a sigh, glad that Reborn was gone.

However, he did not see the way Reborn's fedora shadowed his eyes.

Reborn jumped down the stairs and met Nana, who was home from whatever she was shopping for again.

"Ah, Reborn-kun! Is Tsu-kun home yet? Can you tell him to come down and help me?"

"Sorry, Mama, he's busy with his homework right now. I'll help you instead."

Nana let out a small giggle, "Aw, you're such a sweetheart! How wonderful! Tsu-kun is already working so hard! I'm glad he has you."

"Of course, Mama."

Reborn helped Nana put away the new stuff, which includes new tooth brushes, napkins, dishwasher and other stuff. He raised a brow when he saw diapers and bottles for babies.

As the Sawada wife put on gloves to wash some dishes, Reborn sat in front the kitchen table with a hot bottle of milk (courtesy of Nana).

"Mama, I have a question about Tsuna."

"Oh? What is it? I'll answer anything you ask!" Nana replied as the sound of dish bumping dish and running water could be heard.

"What happened to Tsuna?"

The blunt question made Nana drop the cup she was holding. The cup shattered on the ground, but Nana paid no mind for it for once.

Reborn turned to see Nana standing still, frozen in a horrified position. The hitman could notice the slight trembling of her hands, probably the reason why she dropped the cup. The mother's eyes simply widened at unexpected question. But it didn't take long before a smile returned to her face, except it was a restrained and forced one.

"What do you mean?" the innocent looking mother asked back.

"Tsuna is more than just a pessimist. He is negative and has absolutely no willpower to live, and a rather morbid look on life," declared Reborn bluntly. "That's not how a normal teenager his age should be."

Nana sighed. After not moving for a while, she closed the running water and pulled off her wet gloves. She sat down at the table in front of the hitman, with a solemn look that just did not match the mother's normal cheery one.

"I guess that if you plan to stay as his tutor, you should know this... At least, it might help you to understand Tsu-kun a little."

Reborn waited patently for the brown haired woman to settle down. When she did, the mother spoke hesitantly.

"Tsu-kun... Tsu-kun had always been a warm boy. Even if he wasn't the brightest of the bunch, he was special. I... He... I don't know why, but he started to change... Something happened, five years ago. And it made him different."

Reborn listened intensely as Sawada Nana told the tale of her son, the rims of his fedora shadowing his eyes once more.

* * *

><p>Biting his lips, Tsuna approached the small drawer that hid his secret. He threw a careful glance at every corner of the room. Reborn was downstairs with his mom, and by what he told Reborn, he calculated that Reborn would be leaving him alone for quite a while. He knew for sure that Reborn haven't installed any hidden cameras or micros yet—his instincts told him that much. However, he still checked around, just in case.<p>

He opened it up with one swift motion, making no sound at all, and stopped when he found a small brown notebook that was familiar to him.

He wiped off the invisible dust that had formed on the booklet (or was there even any at all? After all, it had not even been a full day since he hid it there). He carefully opened the notebook. His vision was immediately filled by the neatly made X's that aligned on each page.

He took out a black ball pen and added a few X's here and there on different pages, bringing each page a step closer to completion.

Long after he finished adding the marks he was supposed to, he kept staring at the X's, fazed. His eyes went glazed, mind already wandering else where, as his fingertips slowly traced some of the X marks.

"No regret," he muttered, dazed.

After every while he would flip the pages, eying the familiar and not so familiar names on each of them. However, his mind wouldn't register much of the information, unlike usual. Annoyed, he abruptly closed the notebook and prepared to hide it elsewhere again.

But, he couldn't stop the nagging feeling. For once, he felt two contradicting emotions inside. One told him to get rid of the annoyance, Mochida, who was ungrateful for what he endured and instead made Tsuna get bullied even more. The other reminded him that it was his own decision that brought him the newest waves of bullying. Mochida reminded him of what he was, once upon a time —someone who couldn't express his love.

"What should I do, Onii-chan?"

Suddenly, a smile crept on his face. He knew what to do with this situation. It seems that he can work out what he chose to do in his favor. The smile grew wider and wider until it crept unnaturally on his face, twisting the once beautiful and innocent face. He flipped the pages again, and stopped, this time looking at it with a dreamy sound.

His finger touched the Xs gently, before moving and tracing the name, squashing the name beneath his digit.

"Mochida-sempai, Mochida-sempai... I've decided... Let's be _friends_~"

* * *

><p><strong>- Chapter end –<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:**That's it for this chapter! I apologize that there's not much for this chapter. It was long (again! And 7k words!) Boring and no action. It's kinda like a set up for the next one. I bet you're all wondering what Tsuna's planning, right? I guess there won't be much of Tsuna fighting for a while. I don't want to spoil it too fast 8D

Here's some things I want to explain:

1. Yes, Reborn's gun was originally silver, as seen on the cover of the first volume of the manga. I couldn't find a color copy for the DW bullet though, so I had to improvise a bit, based on its form in the anime.

2. Tsuna calls Kyoko "Sasagawa-**_san_**" and he calls Ryohei "Sasagawa-**_sempai_**". So don't mix it up. This will change later, but for now (and maybe some time), you have to bear with it

There's a few things on these character's personality as well:

3. Reborn's personality would be more mature and dark than the canon one. Because at the beginning, Amano-sensei made KHR a gag manga, so Reborn needed to be unreasonable. But this Reborn have a bit more of the 'Dark powerful hitman' side. In other words, he would act more responsible… Of course, the other sadistic side of Reborn won't disappear.

4. I know I made Ryohei beat Tsuna up here. The only thing I've changed about Ryohei is that I made him even more protective of his little sister, to the point he would do bad things just to protect her. Including bullying (even if he isn't aware that it's bullying).

Thanks for those who answered my question in the last chapter! It helps. If anyone have a question, I would always be glad to respond so don't be afraid to ask.

**Note: Those who haven't get it yet, I'm updating at a regular pace of once a month. (I know I'm taking long, sorry about it.) I'll try my best to get it on the 6th-9th of each month. (Actually I finished writing most of this chapter a long time ago, but… I just couldn't think of a way to write the Ryohei part…)**

**Don't forget to review!**** A word or two is enough to make me happy! :D (And I'll answer all your questions, don't be afraid to ask!)**

_**Next time: **__Tsuna faces Mochida. But things don't always go as planned._


	4. Chapter 3: Welcome to the Mafia

I suck at writing action… So please forgive me for the crappy, short (_very_ short) fight scene here. Sorry…

**A big thanks to reviewers:**

**kaito kitsune, cael05, skepsis66, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, animepie, DiamondGoddess, winged-angel21, LapinNoirDeCalifornie, xXxShiniXKazexXx, EK12, , Xiang Yun, okiyama, jiake97, TripOverFlatSurfaces, hokkyokusei, The stalker from your closet, CH0C0CANDYZ, plummy-kins, XWhiteDragonX, aurla0, .07 **

**(and 1 anonymous reviewer who didn't even have a name)**

**Giant thanks to xXxShiniXKazexXx for unofficially beta-ing (helping me with ideas) Go read her fics, they're awesome too~**

So, starting with the usual:

* * *

><p><strong>Warning: major OOCness, a not-so-perfect Mafia, angst, blood (gore later on?), swearing, angst, etc. Dark and Psycho Tsuna and co. And different timeline + other non-canon stuff. <strong>

**Disclaimer:**Taira-keimei looked at the messy haired brunet and spoke sadly, "Tsuna… You have been officially disclaimed."

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

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><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 3: Welcome to the Mafia**

* * *

><p><em>"Mochida-sempai, Mochida-sempai... I've decided..." Tsuna muttered as he stared nostalgically at his notebook. His smile was full of innocence, sparkled even, by its brightness. It crept so unnaturally on his face, distorting it into something unnameable. <em>

_"Let's be _friends_~"_

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan. Morning, 7:42 am.<strong>

The next morning, Tsuna was awoken by the same life-threatening way that Reborn did the day before. Although it was only the second day it happened, Tsuna had the bad feeling that it would become a frequent occurrence.

Clutching his head, he groaned in pain as the bruises he had gotten from the bullying started to ache, but a quick glance was enough to get him on his feet.

"_HIIIIIE!_WHERE DID THE CROCODILES COME FROM!"

It didn't take long (4 minutes and 53 seconds) for Tsuna to come rushing down, looking messy with his bed hair and wrinkled uniform. He was still buttoning up his shirt, while the tie hanged loosely around his neck, untied.

"Reborn!"

Reborn was sipping his favorite cup of espresso, unfazed by the previous commotion coming from Tsuna's room. Nana was flipping pancakes, all the while doing lots of other things (like washing dishes) all at the same time, totally ignoring the totally normal and absolutely un-suspicious noises upstairs.

It would seem like everything was normal, and yet, if anyone bothered to truly read the atmosphere like Tsuna did, there was a slight uneasiness in the air.

Reborn himself was actually thinking the short discussion he had with his student's mother concerning said-son's gloomy character. If what Nana said was true, then he had to be careful about his teaching methods. It wouldn't be like teaching Dino who, despite his clumsiness, was strong on the inside. Even the sadistic hitman understood that some things can't be rushed.

"REBORN! HEY! LISTEN TO ME WHEN I'M TALKING!"

Tsuna sat down around the kitchen table. However, Reborn just kept ignoring him. Annoyed, the mafia boss in training yelled again. "Reborn! Did you have to set up crocodiles in my room? I could have died, you know!"

"It's for training," Reborn declared bluntly. "Remember what I said last night?"

None of the two noticed how Nana's movements froze for a split second, before continuing washing her dishes.

"F-Fine! But, does that mean that the mines and the bombs set beside my bed as well as the automatic hammer were necessary? And I almost got hit by that bat! Are you trying to kill me? What if I died?"

Reborn lowered his fedora and smirked. "I'm an assassin."

Tsuna steamed at the implied answer. _'HE WOULDN'T HAVE CARED IF I DIED?'_

Sighing, the brunet accepted the plate his mother layer down. He muttered a silent thank for the food and dug in whatever Reborn didn't steal. He ate in silence for a while, when suddenly Reborn called out, "Mama, I'm going out won't be back until late tonight, can you make sure Tsuna does his homework?"

The Sawada wife giggled, "Of course, Reborn-kun. Take your time and be careful~"

"Thank you, Mama; you're wonderful. Don't worry about me."

"Oh my!~ You're so sweet, Reborn-kun!~"

Tsuna perked up from his meal. "What? You're going out tonight? I though you would be tort- I mean, tutoring me after what happened yesterday night."

"Oh? Are you saying you want training?"

"NO—! Erm... I mean, you don't have to train me tonight... Ahaha..." the teen laughed nervously.

"I need to make my report to Nono about your current situation," Reborn spoke in a lower and calmer voice. "And I'll see what he decides to do for you."

Tsuna hesitated. "I... I see." But in his inner mind, Tsuna saw Reborn's planned absence as a chance to act.

"Don't think you'll escape being boss just because you don't have a Dying Will, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna set down his chopsticks on his half empty plate and answered his "I don't want to be a mafia boss!" which earned him a kick on his head.

"Don't whine. Now go, or you'll be late."

"_HIIIIIIIIE!_ I'm going mom!" Tsuna waved.

"Have a good day at school, Tsu-kun!"

There was a slam of the door, before Sawada Nana sat down at the kitchen table in front of Reborn.

"Reborn-kun."

Both their eyes met. It stayed that way for a second, before Reborn nodded at the unsaid command. "Don't worry, Nana-san. I'll protect Tsuna. I promised Iemitsu as well."

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nami-Middle, Japan.<strong>** After school. **

Even though Tsuna should have been more annoyed that the bullying didn't stop as he wished, he wasn't. His mind was entirely focused on the fact that Reborn wasn't observing him from afar. Sure, his home tutor did tell him that he would be coming home late that night, but he didn't expect the hitman to not watch him in the day. In other words, it offered Tsuna the freedom to act.

Well, the freedom was still limited, because there were already more than one hidden camera planted here and there. (Though Tsuna knew there wasn't too many, because even if you were the best hitman in the world, it was hard to get between Hibari-san and his love for Namimori) But, it still didn't leave the fact that he had more freedom them when Reborn is stalking. He could still do what he has to do between the gaps left out by the hidden cameras.

The first thing he needed to do, Tsuna thought, was to isolate Mochida, mostly from Sasagawa Kyoko (or the other way around). If he estimated it right, then it wasn't much if a problem as long as the kendo club captain didn't suspect anything. However, to 'break the news' to Mochida would be harder. How the upperclassman would take the news can be a problem. And then, there was what came after: the suspicion of Reborn. The way how Mochida would act afterwards was a possible giveaway.

But his guts told him that there was no other chance would probably increase his surveillance over him, so it's now or never. He was ready to take the risk.

When the bell for the end of the day rang, Tsuna quickly ran to catch up Mochida. It was the perfect opportunity to act, as long as he didn't take much time.

Mochida was mildly surprised when the one who tapped him was not his friends or his (now) girlfriend Kyoko, but Dame-Tsuna. The upperclassman was dressed in his school uniform with his wooden sword strapped on his back, school bag in hand, and was on his way to home. The stupor was quickly broken and Mochida simply smirked at the petite boy that was standing in front of him looking like a scared little rabbit.

"What are you doing here, Dame-Tsuna? Are you following me? … Ha! You were a stalker as well! I'm glad I got you away from Kyoko," Kyoko's boyfriend taunted.

Ignoring the insult, Tsuna lowered his head slightly and replied in a shaky voice, "I... I wanted to ask you something..."

That statement made Mochida raise a brow. "Oh? Then say it."

"I... I… Can we talk somew-where p-private? ... I... There's..."

Mochida snorted. Giving a disdainful look to the brunet, he replied, "Tch, you really are useless. Too afraid to speak in public? Fine. Since I'm in a good mood, I'll grant your wish for once. But..." The kendo club captain passed two fingers bellow his chin in a thoughtful manner and grinned. _'A secluded area where no one would bother if that brat ever annoys me...' _"I know place where people would leave us alone."

Tsuna simply nodded. Mochida raised an eyebrow as he had expected Dame-Tsuna to act a bit more... shaky. But he brushed it off as unimportant and motioned the younger student to follow him.

The walk was entirely silent.

They arrived some time later in a secluded alley between two shabby looking buildings. Because of the way the buildings were close to each other that there was barely any sunlight reaching the place and how they were tall and had no windows, it all gave the place a gloomy feeling. The angle they were in made so that no one could see what was happening in the small alley, being in the exact blind spot between the two buildings. Tsuna (almost) narrowed his eyes at this. He wondered why Mochida would know such a suspicious place; one that even Tsuna himself didn't know until today. The brunet added the place to his mental map of Namimori, in case it would become handy in the future.

"So what is it that you wanted to say?" Mochida exclaimed, with a hint of impatience in his tone.

Tsuna blinked, slightly startled by the sudden break in the silence; then he looked intensely into Mochida's eyes. "I… want you to do something about the bullying."

Mochida's eyes bulged. He wasn't expecting that! "What? What stupid things are you trying to say?"

"I am getting tired of this… Because of that fight, I became the target of the whole school."

All the time Mochida took to listen to the younger boy, he was extremely bored. What the hell did he expect? Something good coming from a loser's request? Sawada Dame-Tsuna was ordering him around? The nerve!

"I can't do anything directly," Tsuna continued. And if he noticed Mochida's lack of concentration, he seemed not at all bothered by it. But what he said next slightly perked the swordsman's interest. "But, Mochida-sempai, you are in the perfect position to do so. You are the one who excels in kendo, to the point of becoming the club captain. You are one of the school idols. You also hold enough influence over most of the student population. You can help me, I know you can."

Though his ego was quite pleased with the last part of Tsuna's statement, Mochida was fretting over the whole request thing. He grimaced in a disgusted manner towards the small teen. "Tch. Trash like you is really annoying. Though, I should give you some credit, since you did realize what position I hold. So... So I'm thinking why not..."

Tsuna looked up in a hopeful manner. "Really?"

Mochida grinned evilly and kicked Tsuna in the stomach. He watched as the brunet fall on his behind. Looking down at Tsuna, he laughed, "BWAHAHA! YOU ACTUALLY THOUGHT I WOULD LISTEN TO YOU? A WEAKLING SHOULD JUST KNOW YOUR PLACE! DON'T FUCKING ORDER ME AROUND!"

Mochida's eyes narrowed as he spat, "Flattery will get you nowhere. For your information, I'm not stupid. Don't try to pin this on me. If you are annoyed by the way people treat you, go grow a backbone or die. If not, you're just a worthless trash. Heck, you'd contribute more to society as a fertilizer than as a human." He proceeded to give another violent kick.

However, before the kick even connected, the mass of brown hair disappeared from view. Eyes widening, Mochida's brain barely managed to react, _'Sa...wada?'_

The response was a sudden pain in his stomach and then in his back a few second latter. He found himself crashing to the hard brick wall.

"Gah…" Mochida gasped as he slid down the wall.

From the corner of his eyes, Mochida saw the form of Sawada Tsunayoshi nonchalantly walk towards him. Sawada was acting nonchalant, like he didn't just send a guy flying with a kick. Shocked beyond words by this, Mochida suddenly felt fear, something he only had when facing off the school's head prefect.

Sawada bent down so their eye level would match. There was a gentle but sorrowful expression in them. The older teen though he saw orange in those eyes; but it must have been because he hit his head hard. In a serene tone, the younger teen whispered towards his sempai, "Sigh... I think you don't get this yet... Maybe I said it wrong..." Tsuna passed a nervous hand into his messy brown locks to calm himself down. After a few second, he seemed to know what he was going to say. "Let me rephrase this, maybe you'll understand a little better."

Tsuna smiled gently. It was such a beautiful and innocent smile that would have made the sempai blush if Sawada's hands weren't at his throat. Surprise froze Mochida at the abnormal behavior. "I do not care for the bullying," Sawada explained calmly. "I don't care if you call me useless, trash... or whatever. But I do wish to stay unnoticed. This attention is _annoying_."

The raven haired teen gritted his teeth. He was scared. But for some reason, he felt more humiliated that he was pinned by a younger —not to mention weaker boy—, than he was afraid. Unhappy with that though, Mochida gathered his forces and pushed the brunet away. Tsuna skipped back in order to avoid the swordsman. Ignoring the pain, Mochida stood up quickly and took out his shinai (sword) and pointed it towards Tsuna in an offensive position. Tsuna blinked, slightly surprised; then he remind himself that Mochida was still one of the school's top fighters. The future Mafia boss dodged the first swing directed as his head with ease, just as well as he evaded the second one. He didn't fight back at all, only dodging the hits.

"Hm?" Tsuna noticed how Mochida was deviating from the standard style used in dojos, but instead a wild mix with random movements. Without the sharpness of a real sword, the kendo club captain was using it like someone would use a metal pipe or a bat. Though it wouldn't make a hit less deadly because of the weight one had.

Mochida launched forward and delivered a blow towards Tsuna's chest area, but the brunet evaded by a hair. However, Mochida replied back with a vertical swing. Forced to take a step back, Tsuna momentarily lost balance. Smirking, Mochida thrust the sword directly at Tsuna's throat. Without second thoughts, Tsuna used the force of gravity to perform a back flip; kicking the sword to redirect the thrust and send it flying in the process. He didn't waste time. Tsuna sent a punch towards Mochida's defenseless stomach, cutting his flow of air, then delivered a kick in the chest area to push him on the ground.

"Gah-" Mochida chocked as he fell. Instinctively, the sempai brought his arms in front to protect him from any incoming hits.

Tsuna was about to punch Mochida in the face when he halted in his act. He remembered how he wanted to stay discrete and cursed under his breath. So he opted for the first and only option again: peaceful discussion. He lowered his fist and sighed. He turned away so that Mochida was facing his back. He waited until the older boy caught his breath to say, "So, Mochida-sempai… Are you willing to help me out? … It's not like you're not benefiting from this as well."

"Me? Benefiting?" Mochida spat as he coughed. "B-bullshit."

"You can really be dense, can you? … Of course you are benefiting. Why else did you think you won the duel?"

"O-Obviously! Because I beat a runt like you!"

Tsuna laughed and turned to look at Mochida with curious eyes. "Oh? Do you believe that? Fine then, if you want to say that, you're free to do so! But! You can't lie to yourself, Mochida-sempai~" he sang. He then approached Mochida and whispered in his ears, "_Because deep inside of you, you know that I made you win._"

Upon that, Mochida backed away towards the wall. His back hit the bricks while he could only stare the brunet with horror and disbelief. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but no sound came out. He gaped for a long while, before finally snapping back and shouted, "_The voice!_ Y-You were the voice that to-told me t-to challenge you into a fight! _You planned it all!_"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. Voice? How familiar. It was the same mysterious voice that spoke to him... It was— _'As I thought, it really was all your doing, Reborn,'_ he thought. _'So he encouraged Mochida to fight me? Reborn really is dangerous. I really can't let my guard down.'_

Grinning back widely, the brunet decided to play along. If that's what Mochida wanted to believe, why not make profit of it? Reborn might have been the one who started it; it didn't mean Tsuna couldn't have the last laugh. Slipping on one of his poker face, he exclaimed, "That's right!~ I told you to fight me because I wanted to help you! Because I wanted to see you and Sasagawa-san together!"

"W-why?"

"Why? Because I wanted to of course! So I put on the show!" Then his voice darkened and became deeper. "But you are ungrateful. Not only did you start I can as well put an end to this. After all I did to help you with Sasagawa, is this how you thank me? But taking care of you directly would mean more standing out... And standing out wouldn't stand well with me. But no worries. Because you'll get it done, won't you? After all, we're _friends._"

Tsuna let his bangs cover his eyes. However, when he raised them, they were no longer the normal soft caramel color, but a red-orange sunset color. Mochida gasped hard. Those eyes... they weren't _human_.

"Who-... _**What are you?**_"

Tsuna only smiles; eyes wide, pupils slightly dilated, and mouth twisted into a toothy grin. "Me?" he asked innocently. "Why, that's a stupid question. I'm Sawada Tsunayoshi of course. First year student at Nami-Middle. And…

"Just your average student."

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p>Mochida didn't think he ever ran so fast in his life. He was scared— <em>terrified<em> of the _thing_ that was Sawada Tsunayoshi. He didn't even care about the prized shinai he left back at the alley. No, those things were the last of what he cared at that moment. He never thought that one day; he would be running for his life.

He escaped as soon as Sawada answered his question. He just couldn't take it.

He can't say he never felt deadly auras before. Being an ace in the kendo field, he had met a few opponents that had it. But with Sawada, it was just _different_.

Not because the aura was dark and suffocating.

It was because there was a lack of murderous intent. Instead, there was a void, as if it was sucking your own aura in instead. And the feeling… It was so _sickeningly sweet_ that it made Mochida want to puke. It was somehow just so _wrong_.

The swordsman kept running, even if he knew Sawada wasn't following him. He just wanted to escape, just in case that monster changed its mind.

He was sweating like crazy when he finally reached the big apartment he was living in. Luckily, no one was home yet, so he wasn't assaulted by questions from his mother and his older sister. As soon as he closed the boor, he sank down, head buried in his hand, shaking heavily. He calmed down while convincing himself that everything was over, that Sawada wasn't here. That's when his brain tried to find reasoning to why, how these things was possible. His logical side refused to believe that Sawada's eyes had _changed colors_. Maybe he was just hallucinating about Sawada?

'_Yeah. That's it. I must be too emotionally tired. That's right. I probably was dreaming or something. Maybe I hit my head too hard during training.' _

He coughed; now convinced (or so he told himself) that everything was but his imagination. He just couldn't accept it as reality. He decided that maybe it was a better idea to give a phone call to his new girlfriend Kyoko. Hearing her voice will definitely brighten up his mood. His dear Kyoko would comfort him. He took out his cell phone he dialed the phone number of his beloved Kyoko. He waited impatiently for her to pick up.

At that moment, his doorbell rang. Pissed off for the interruption, he stood to open the door, phone still in his hand. He knew the person the person at the door was his older sister: she always came back at this hour. And deep in his heart, he was relieved that a piece of normality was ringing at the door. Because family's presence was always comforting, no matter how annoying your older sister was.

"Stop it ringing, Sis! I'm coming!"

The doorbell kept ringing. Mochida ran to the door. "I told you to stop! How many time did I say—"

_**BANG!**_

He didn't scream, he didn't mutter a sound. He simply froze in horror. It was simply terrifying: the silence, the pain, the shadow that looked at him with those unreadable eyes.

In the split second he saw his life flash before his eyes, two thoughts occupied Mochida. The first one that flashed was, _**'…Monsters!' **_as he referred to the one standing in front of him._**  
><strong>_

The second one: his last one was…

_"__Hello? Hello? Mochida? Is it you?__" _came an angelic voice of a distant dropped cell phone.

'…_**Kyoko**…'_

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>At the same time, in the Sawada residence, Namimori.<strong>

"Mom! I'm home!" Tsuna exclaimed as he slammed the door open. He dropped his school bag lazily, took off his shoes and left them at the door.

"Welcome home, Tsu-kun!" his mom greeted back with an angelic smile. It made Tsuna smile back as well. Tsuna looked around until he noticed something missing.

Out of nowhere, he asked the stupid and obvious question, "Eh? Reborn is not back yet?"

Nana smiled at her son's forgetfulness. "He told us he won't be home until very late tonight, didn't he?"

Tsuna almost facepalmed, but he controlled himself. "Oh… Y-yeah… Just thought that maybe, he might have come back early…"

Somehow, Tsuna had a really bad feeling about this. _'… What are you planning, Reborn?'_

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p>Reborn stared coldly at the corpse in front of him, standing carefully so that he wouldn't get any blood stains on himself. There was no other sound in the room except for the soft dial tone of a cell phone on the floor, drenched in blood. The blood puddle under his feet was still growing; the recent murder was still fresh.<p>

No, it wasn't _murder_; it was a first class assassination.

And Reborn was that assassin.

The infant let Leon crawl into his chubby hands. The chameleon obeyed at his master's silent command morphed into a high-tech phone. Reborn flipped it open and quickly dialed a complex set of numbers on it.

"... **It's done.** Send people to clean up."

The hitman didn't wait for a response before he flipped the phone off. He absentmindedly caressed Leon with a finger as he stared into the crimson splatter on the floor and the walls.

Reborn was the world's best hitman, so it was a child's play to kill. But it didn't mean he liked it. Killing a child wasn't on his list of favorite things to do. Mochida wasn't the brightest kid in the batch, but he had potential. Not too much, but it was still there; it was enough for the boy to survive in the Mafia world. With some training, he might have been a good subordinate for Tsuna.

Actually, he hadn't though Tsuna was this weak-willed. The hitman miscalculated; he didn't think Tsuna couldn't even use the dying will bullet as a boost. And the Ninth want Tsuna as his heir? Sure, he might be better than the other problem child named Xanxus, but training the Vongola heir who can't use the Vongola trademark is absurd. Sure, the bullet was only the first step to activate the true powers of the Vongola Flame; but it was an important step that can't be skipped.

Not that Reborn wasn't capable of training someone like that.

Not that any of those mattered either. After all, it was Nono's order. And Reborn wholeheartedly agreed with the mission. He was given the choice to refuse (after all, the training methods were left to him to decide, so it was his choice either he decided the Mochida kid was a nuisance or not)

Mochida was simply too weak to be the first member of Tsuna's Family. He wouldn't be here to help Tsuna, but instead would be a constant reminder of the brunet's defeat. No, instead, he would search for better candidates. He needed someone who would be there to support Tsuna even if Tsuna was weak.

He'd kill that child named Mochida. Heck, he'll kill anyone who stands between him and Tsuna. It was all for the well being of his pupil.

The hitman threw a last empty glance at the child's glazed eyes; before he walked towards the apartment's door. That's when he heard loud footsteps stomping outside. Reborn cursed coldly.

_He would do it for his student._

"Mochiiiida!" a girl's voice yelled. "Stupid brother, you home already? Mom told me to tell—" The door swung open.

_**BANG!**_

And another crimson splatter decorated the floor.

_All for Tsuna._

* * *

><p><strong>- 27dark27 - 27 - 27dark27 -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>The next day, 8:21 AM; Class A-I, Nami-Middle School.<strong>

"—and he just hanged up on me…" Sasagawa Kyoko told to her best friend, Hana. They both were sitting together, chatting while waiting for the first bell to ring.

"Tsk. What a jerk that Mochida is," Hana replied. "He just claimed you as his and now he's ignoring you? Did your brother do anything yet?"

"Huh? What would onii-chan do?" the school's female idol asked innocently, as if she _didn't know_ anything. But the best friend knew what Kyoko truly meant; "he hasn't done anything yet" was the unsaid statement.

Tsuna watched from a corner as the two girls interacted with each other. They were talking about his new 'friend', Mochida, who was Kyoko's boyfriend thanks to the brunet's help. Tsuna smirked inwardly at the thought how Mochida would now be in Tsuna's care. The brunet knew he gave the kendo club captain a good scare. That should probably why he didn't answer his new girlfriend's phone call or something.

He was happy about his accomplishment, because he knew that there was a great chance that Mochida would now '_help'_ him out of fear.

A group of three girls approached Hana and Kyoko. One of them interrupted the conversation, "What? Kyoko-chan, you don't know?"

The orange haired girl looked up. "Know about what?" she asked, confused.

"Mochida-sempai transferred!" the second girl cried.

"It was so sudden! I heard it was because of a family problem, so they had to move away," added the last girl.

"He… he did?" Kyoko asked. Hana snickered as she guessed what the orange-haired girl was thinking. The orange haired-girl should probably be cheering in her head. Actually, it reminded her that Kyoko's brother might have beaten Mochida to the point that he would transfer school. At this, Hana smirked and added Ryohei to his mental list of boys that weren't monkeys.

"Aww… And just when he got Kyoko-chan as his girlfriend… Or maybe… I think Mochida-sama wanted to be your boyfriend before he leaves because he's fallen in love with you and wanted to be your knight one last time!" the third girl squealed excitedly.

"Mochida-sempai is just so sweet!" the second squealed while her two friends agreed.

"Yeah! So much better than stupid Dame-Tsuna!"

They were interrupted by the sound of a door slamming. All heads turned towards the source of the sound, wondering what it was; especially who would even _dare_ to go outside before the class starts when Hibari was roaming around.

"Was that Dame Tsuna who just ran out?" someone gaped.

"Humph! I bet he's happy about Mochida-sempai's transfer!" the first girl huffed. "That useless guy should just get beaten up by Hibari-san!"

Sawada Tsunayoshi just couldn't keep listening anymore. Instead, he ran away, far from the class' conversation. He tried to keep a strait face as he ran between the students in the corridor. However, his eyes betrayed his horror.

Realization dawned him.

He understood the reason why Reborn wasn't there yesterday.

He understood why he had the freedom to act as he was pleased because Reborn wasn't observing him.

He understood why, _why_ he thought it would be so easy to slip away from Reborn's grasp!

He stopped when he finally reached outside of school, in a place where no one, not even Reborn, would bother him. The brunet sunk down on his knees. He buried his head in his arms and stayed like that for a long time to sort out the events that happened in a span of only _three days_.

And yesterday night, how Reborn had _kindly_ told him that he shouldn't worry about Mochida anymore. Everything! Everything connected!

"Hehe… Haha… hahaha… Ahaha!" he suddenly laughed. Sawada Tsunayoshi finally understood how, for once, he couldn't control his destiny. How his normality was destroyed so easily by _his_ arrival. It never happened before: since that day, he always had the power to make things work out for himself. Now, Tsuna thought he could take advantage on the fact that his tutor was underestimating him; and yet, he was wrong. Reborn had managed to disturb his pace _without even trying_.

As his fists curled into a ball, nails digging in his skin, a single bead of sweat rolled down his face.

"So this is the Mafia… This is what I am facing…" he gritted his teeth in frustration, talking to himself. "Fine, I'll play your game, _Reborn_."

Somewhere, in the Sawada household, a certain tutor put down his cup of espresso. He also was thinking about the same thing. "Tsuna," he muttered under his breath. "I shall show you the Mafia world."

* * *

><p><strong>- Chapter end -<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>AN:** … Wow… -pokes Mochida with a stick- … Looks like he's dead. –pokes again- …They die so easily, don't they… -pokes- … Oh well. I hope they don't run out soon.

Sorry, this chapter was a bit too dark…But the next few chapters would be happier… Actually, the whole introduction arc where Tsuna meets his friends would be happier… since this is a family fic.

(And it's short. 5k words again. But it's the end of the first mini mini arc, so I had to stop here... Also, i shouldn't be spoiling you guys... It was supposed to be around 4k-5k words since the beginning!... Gah... Why can't I make these chapters shorter...)

In case anyone is wondering, in that last scene, Reborn isn't observing Tsuna through a camera. It just happens that both are thinking about the same thing. Also, the times that Tsuna acts are the rare times where Reborn doesn't have Tsuna under surveillance. Tsuna is a great actor so he keeps his facade in front of everyone and manages to fool even Reborn. Reborn might be a little suspicious, be he is underestimating Tsuna. So there's gasps in his teaching (training+observation+interfering with Tsuna's normal life) that Tsuna takes advantage. Both Tsuna and Reborn have their own plans; and currently, even if Reborn doesn't know about Tsuna, he can still ruin Tsuna's plans. Reborn is simply that powerful.

And...

I'm in a little bit of dilemma now… The thing is… I'm not sure how to continue this story. Now, now, before you all start panicking; I just don't know how to write the next part. The whole problem is that I have planned too far (Till the end of the future arc); so the thing is, I have no idea how the things before that goes. The "introduction arc" which is the first 3 chapters, was actually a single one. But I fail so much that I had to drag it into 3. The next chapter would either be Yamamoto or Gokudera… But I want to make it special and deviate from canon (like how I did till now… Same but different) So…

I want you guys to give me out ideas please… -bows- m( _ _ )m

You have no idea how a simple conversation can start a story. (I've started another one that I'll be co-authoring with Kaze-chan soon~) So please, gimme some suggestions. Ideas… Things you want to see. When I get a writer's block, I come back to read all your reviews to motivate myself. So… O3O Ideas? Anyone?

Either way…

**Don't forget to review!**** A word or two is enough to make me happy! :D (And I'll answer all your questions, don't be afraid to ask!)**

_**Next time: **__The wave of change hits Tsuna and he has no choice to face the incoming storm of the mafia…_


	5. Chapter 4: Rainstorm, part 1

**A big thanks to those who took time to review:**

**Hanasaku, .x, cael05, Ic3Yuki, Exclamated, Aimi-chan, EK12, Shugopop, HiKaRi-ChIbI, animepie, Xiang Yun, hokkyokusei, okiyama, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, dark-driex-07, Crimsonpheonix271, PockoChi, xXxShiniXKazexXx, , AkaneSama10, Brightly Dark, The stalker from your closet, TripOverFlatSurfaces, kaito kitsune, CH0C0CANDYZ, Dante96, kuro no kokoro, TotalAmuto, jiake97, loldrive, ..xx, plummy-kins, A Mughal Princess, semifully, forgottentears6, pansyandy, InfiniteWhiplash****,** **Fantasy-Magician,** **Tsubasa Namikaze, Connection of Complication, starred, SushiLoverForLife, Koyuki, Pure Flames.**

**You guys made me so happy! 50 reviews for the last chapter! Wow, it was such a successful chapter! TwT Thank you guys so much! Especially for those who took time to suggest possibilities! It really helped me a lot~ **

Sorry for being (A MONTH!) late for this chapter. It was mid-term and it was THE thing that would count for college for me (well, it's the equivalent of "college")… So I had to concentrate on Exams and projects and all… And then we got attacked with a second wave a week after the first one finished… Sorry TvT

Either way, enjoy this chapter! ^_^

* * *

><p><strong>Warning: Dark, if you haven't got it after the previous chapter. Major OOCness, a not-so-perfect Mafia, angst, blood (gore later on?), swearing, angst, etc. Dark and Psycho Tsuna and co. And different timeline + other non-canon stuff. Unbeta'ed.<strong>

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. But the modifications to the original canon plot line are.

"Speaking"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

* * *

><p><strong><strong><strong>–<strong> 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 –****

* * *

><p><strong><span>Unrelenting Fate<span>**

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 4: Rainstorm, part 1**

* * *

><p><em>"-Flight number 20758-90 Italy-Japan now landing. […] Passengers, please take exit number I98. Thank you for taking the airline.-"<em>

_Amongst the crowd of Japanese travelers, a teenage foreigner walked to the exit, a suitcase trailed behind him. His silver hair glistened in the artificial light of the airport building, along with all the rings, bracelets, necklaces, and belts decorated with skull patterns. He eyed his surrounding carefully, green eyes narrowing in concentration and lips forming a frown. His green eyes held an emotion akin to reminiscence. His punkish style attire gave him a bad boy look that made the teenager even more attractive than he already was._

_"So this is the birth country of my mother..." the teen whispered in Italian._

_He stopped to wait for a taxi that would drive him to his new residence. Leaning on a pole, the foreigner searched his pockets for the cigarette pack he just bought in some vending machine. As he took out his pack, a picture felt along, dropping on the floor. When he glanced at the photo, his eyes narrowed even more. He bent down and picked it, glaring at the person in the photograph._

_In the photo was a teenager around his age, with unruly brown hair and wide innocent caramel eyes. The brunet was looking nervously at the camera, with a shy smile on his face._

_"Let's see how much you'll live up to your title." The Italian teen lighted up the cigarette and closed his eyes._

_It was a picture of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the Vongola Decimo._

* * *

><p><strong><strong><strong>–<strong> 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 –****

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori<strong>**, Japan****. Two weeks since Reborn's arrival, morning: 6:59am.**

Tsuna jumped back to evade a rain of projectiles. He ducked to the right when he was about to run into a wall. He was concentrating hard. He simply kept running like his life depended on it— it truly was. He didn't stop when something massive and heavy hit the back of his legs. He stumbled a bit at the pain; his steps because slightly irregular. Still, he kept running, even faster this time and not looking back even once.

Unluckily, seconds later, he nearly tripped over a convenient rock, breaking his pace. The teenager managed miraculously to rebalance himself in record time so he didn't fall. His eyes widened because he had lost his concentration for a split second because of it. The rock was part of a trap, he realized. He ducked just in time to see four flying knife aimed at his head. He sighed in relief because he wasn't harmed much yet.

The whole knife thing did however cost him a few precious seconds. Cursing, he was soon running again, advancing as fast as he could, jumping and stumbling here and there.

He looked behind to see another shiny object flying towards him. Too focused on the flying object, he didn't notice the transparent wire until he tripped on it. He found too late that the shiny object wasn't real harm and it only served to make him step on the wire.

And it cost him.

That action triggered a trap right next to him. He only had the time to hear a high beeping noise before-

_'Shi-'_

**_BOOM!_**

The area was instantly covered with a thick smoke, blinding the whole area from any watchful eyes. All noises of the area shut down. Only silence remained.

As the grey smoke slowly dissipated, a lone figure stood in the middle. It revealed to be Tsuna, alive, panting and clutching his knees so he wouldn't fall. He had cuts and bruises everywhere, some where strings of blood was even starting to flow out.

Sweat was tickling on his face and he looked absolutely tired, like he was going to stop and drop dead at any moment. However, he couldn't, if he wanted to live.

It was Reborn's training after all.

"HIIIIIIIIIIIIIEEEEEEE!"

The said tutor jumped out from his post of observation. "You failed dame-Tsuna," Reborn commented as he saw his student emerge from the explosion.

"That could have killed me!" Tsuna shrieked.

Reborn had a rather smug look on his face that indicated he was rather happy about the situation. "It wasn't made to kill. It's a bomb specially made for training."

_'Oh, I doubt it…' _

The student pouted and looked at his injuries. He groaned in pain when he slightly twisted his foot. "I wish I could just stop this mafia boss thing. Yes, I know, I know, I have no choice," Tsuna complained. "That bomb still hurt!"

"How else will you learn then?" the baby smiled innocently.

Let's just say that Tsuna suspected it had more to do with Reborn's personal sadism than actual training. But he knew better than to protest.

Though Reborn didn't say anything else, he was actually pleased. He wouldn't say it out loud, but his student was _progressing_ very fast. He had a general idea on what happened when Tsuna dodged the DW bullet during the first day… Though, he must compliment Tsuna. The boy seemed to have a knack for getting into trouble, but he still comes out relatively better than most people. Either it was skill or luck was still a matter to be debated, a mystery which Reborn planned to take time to uncover.

_'It's been a long time since I've me someone this interesting,' _Reborn smirked.

The tutor tossed a towel at Tsuna who clumsily caught it. Tsuna sat on the floor and began to wipe out the sweat that was tickling his skin. The sweat stung a lot on his scratches. But at least, Tsuna was grateful that Reborn let him to take a shower afterwards.

His bruises and cuts were covered quickly by band aids. Strangely, Reborn was kind enough to always treat Tsuna with this mysterious yellow sticky substance (Tsuna figured it must be some sort of Vongola's magical medicine). Applying it on his wounds would make them heal two times faster than normal, which Tsuna was grateful for seeing that his trainings were intense.

Once in a while after these training sessions, the bruises he sported would earn a few pitying glances from his classmates. Either way, things had more or less calmed down in school since _that_ incident two weeks ago. Tsuna had to deploy a few subtle strategies so that people's attention would be diverted from him. He knew the disgust was still there, but most of the time, he would be ignored.

Since then, Tsuna had to stop doing his usual activities. Instead, he only let Reborn have his ways. As much as he hates to admit it, Reborn was far superior to him. The future mafia boss was already tired trying to hide a few things without Reborn getting too suspicious. It was also one of the reasons he found the hitman's training too hard: he was concentrating too much on being found. He was sure Reborn has already noticed a few slip. Luckily, it seems the home tutor had dismissed it as improvement on his student's part. Tsuna had decided to keep playing dumb until Reborn find out; he knew his tutor would: it was just a question of how long he can hide. But until then…

Reborn called Tsuna out, "Hurry up. We need to go back home before Mama notices our absence."

"Yeah, yeah…" Tsuna groaned.

He was sure Reborn would have hit him for his sarcastic tone, but the baby didn't say anything. He was about to say something, then he noticed the slight gleam in Reborn's eyes.

It made Tsuna shiver a little.

And he was proven right when Reborn stated, "But I have a little surprise for you today. Aren't you curious?" Reborn titled his head innocently and stared at Tsuna with those huge baby eyes.

"Eh?... _HIIIIIIE!_"

"You'll see!"

Tsuna facepalmed and whipped the whole thing to the back of his mind because... _'No, don't think about it, don't think about it. Not now. It's not a good idea to worry too much. I don't want to get white hair soon! Don't think about it, don't think about it…'_ Yes, later on, when he gets a bit more sleep.

* * *

><p><strong><strong><strong>–<strong> 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 –****

* * *

><p><strong>Nami-Middle<strong>** School, Namimori, Japan. 7:30 AM.**

Tsuna dropped himself on his chair, looking half dead. He sluggishly took out his book as he was supposed to. After all that nerve-whacking training (seriously, why did he have to wake up _at 4 am?_), he was so tired that he was tempted to not go to school at all. But as always, Reborn forced him.

Oh, there's also the surprise-

_'Don't think about it. Don't think about it. Don't think about it.'_

Tsuna's head hurt just for the possibility of Reborn's _surprises_. It made him feel tired, dead, nervous, scared and _tired_. Luckily for him, first period was one of the rare classes where the teacher was leaving him completely alone, giving him peace since he deemed Tsuna 'unsalvageable'. Head lying on his desk, he slowing drifted into a deep sleep, lured by the monotone voice of his teacher.

As Tsuna fell into a familiar memory filled dream (_'Don't think about it'_ still chanting in his mind like some sort of evil lullaby), a knock interrupted the teacher. The man stopped his teachings and opened the door. After a few moments of conversation to the mystery person outside the door (which earned a few questioning glances from the students), he turned back and smiled tiredly at everyone, "Class, we have a new student who was studying overseas in Italy."

And of course, the student made a big fuss over it.

"A new student? From Italy?"

"That's so cool!"

"I wonder if it's a guy or a girl!"

A teenage boy walked in. He had mid length silver hair and piercing green eyes narrowed into a glare. His skin was pretty pale, but it was healthy. He didn't quite look Japanese, and the people in the class deduced he might be a half blood. Even thought he was wearing the Namimori school uniform, he also had a bunch of gothic-punk rings, necklace and bracelets. The choice of clothing along with the glare made him look like a delinquent. All in all, he looked quite pleasant for the female population. Meanwhile, the male population were musing over how the transfer student would be bitten to death for breaking the school dress code.

"Hey, isn't he hot?" one of the girls blushed timidly.

"He's come back to his homeland!" a girl with long flowing black hair shouted excitingly at her friend who agreed.

"He doesn't look Japanese," some guy pointed out, somewhat jealous of the attention the new student got.

"I bet he's a half Italian! That's so cool!"

"I heard that Italians were romantic!" a girl exclaimed and was met by squeals of approval from all the other girls.

"Alright, calm down, class," the teacher tried, and failed, to keep the classroom in order. "Can you introduce yourself?" he offered when the Italian stayed silent.

The new student glared, but still answered. "Che, Gokudera Hayato," he declared simply. His bad attitude only seemed to stir up more squeals of excitement from the girls' side.

Gokudera Hayato completely ignored the stupid chatter. Instead, he only focused on the reason of his transfer: a boy named Sawada Tsunayoshi. He looked at the boy who was sleeping without a care to the world. It annoyed Gokudera to no end that the future Vongola Jyuudaime was such a loser. He continued to glared at that direction, making all those seated near Tsuna look away to avoid Gokudera's burning gaze.

The teacher, noticing the tense atmosphere around the new boy, sighed at the class and said weakly, "There's an empty seat over there, you can sit there, Gokudera-kun." He motioned towards the desk in the other side of the class. But Gokudera didn't even care for the man. Instead, he walked towards his target. The students also noticed the weird behavior and watched in curiosity, and anticipation, to see what was happening next.

"Gokudera-kun, your seat is over here" the teacher tried tentatively again. "Gokudera-kun?"

Tsuna, in his case, was blissfully unaware of the current situation, still peacefully in the world of his memories.

(_"Oni-chan! Look! Look at the plant we grew in class!" a younger Tsuna exclaimed. _

_His big brother grinned. "Aww! That's awesome, Tsuna-chan! That's something to celebrate!" Tsuna grinned back, feeling all proud to be praised by oni-chan. "Ah! Let's put it here!" "Be careful, oni-chan! Or it will bre-)_

**_CLANG!_**The desk was kicked harshly, a rude awakening for the poor Tsuna.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEK?" Tsuna jumped up with wide eyes. _'What? When? Where? Who? Reborn? Wh-'_ He blinked as some of the classmates laughed. He met face to face into the piercing eyes of a stranger. Tsuna was surprised by the amount of distrust and anger inside those green orbs. _'What the hell?'_

Gokudera emitted an almost silent 'tch' and turned around to walk to his designed seat, not caring about the rest of the class at all.

The silence continued a bit, until murmurs erupted in the class once again.

"Does he know Dame-Tsuna?" someone asked to the one next to him.

One of the boys concluded solemnly, "He has to be a gangster."

"But that's what's good…" the girl beside answered with dreamy looks. "It's numbing, not scary. Looks like we've decided on forming a fan club."

Tsuna groaned weakly. _'Ugh… Why do I have the feeling it has something to do with Reborn?' _And he continued his curses and tried to sleep once again, as this time. The key word being _tried_, as the word 'Surprise' rang in his head. _'Curse you, Reborn.'_

* * *

><p><strong>–<strong> **27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 –**

* * *

><p>Hours later, it was nearly the end of the day. Tsuna found himself in Physical Ed. Class, one of his most hated classes. The gym teacher looked at them with his fierce gaze and shouted.<p>

"Class! We're doin' baseball today! I want you all to separate into two teams. I don't want to hear chit chat or complaining. Be quick about it or you'll run 5 bonus laps around the school!"

The enthusiastic students picked their own team leaders; then the leaders started to call out the individual chosen teammates. Tsuna totally ignored what was going on because he knew he would be chosen last anyway. Gym class was the most dreaded class for Sawada Tsunayoshi. It wasn't because he was incapable to perform well in that course; on the contrary, it was because it was the harder place to keep his act.

Of course, Gym class can never match Reborn's trainings at all, but there was a reason he was so nervous. Today, not only could he feel his home tutor watching, but there were also additional pairs of eyes watching his moves.

The first pair of eyes belonged to the baseball star of his class, Yamamoto Takeshi. The Yamamoto guy was sharper than he appeared. It made Tsuna feel uneasy around the baseball star. Normally, he would try a few well placed words to make himself seem less suspicious. Perhaps a few well prepared plans would work. But if he did so, it also means he would need to divide his attention between Reborn and Yamamoto. It might stir Reborn's curiosity instead; and Tsuna absolutely cannot ever let it happen. _(He couldn't crack yet, not in front of Reborn. Not if his__—) _He chose to lay low and hoped that Yamamoto would just stop staring at him.

However, if those two people weren't enough to make him crack, the third and newest addition probably would. The future mafia boss mentally slapped himself for not staying awake when the transfer student was introduced. Maybe he should have taken Reborn's words seriously instead of sleeping... He did manage to catch a few strands of information. The new student was named Gokudera something… and that the new student was Italian. Italy… That was the home of the Mafia. Tsuna needed to know if the transfer student had anything to do with Reborn. _'Maybe he's an assassin?'_ Tsuna wondered. _'…No… An assassin wouldn't come out in broad daylight…And Reborn is here to teach me, so he wouldn't call assassins like that… At least I hope he wouldn't. But Gokudera still feels like an enemy. I don't like him.'_ Mr. Surprise (yes, that guy was definitely the 'surprise' Reborn mentioned earlier) introduced himself by kicking Tsuna's desk harshly and had been glaring since then.

"I'm saying you guys can have Dame-Tsuna on your team!" a student shouted as Tsuna's turn to be picked came. Tsuna's attention snapped back to the PE class.

"No way! We don't want him; he'll make us lose again!"

"We don't want to lose either! Dame-Tsuna is too useless! The team he's on would always end up losing!"

Someone interrupted the fight over Tsuna. "Isn't it alright? He can just join our team," the person laughed. Both Tsuna and the transfer student, and the others, looked at the one who had spoken.

"Huh?" was the only intelligent thing Tsuna could mutter.

"Are you serious, Yamamoto?" some teammates protested. "You don't have to let that loser in."

Yamamoto Takeshi merely laughed and passed an arm around the other. "Don't be so stingy. I just have to keep them from hitting, right?" Yamamoto threw Tsuna a glance, which made Tsuna wonder if the last part of that sentence was directed at him.

"Well, if Yamamoto is saying so. Alright," Yamamoto's friend grumbled.

On the other team, the transfer student Gokudera frowned even more. He gave a disgusted snarl.

"Me? Really?" Tsuna pointed himself stupidly.

"Aha, yeah! You want to be on our team, right?"

The brunet nodded quickly and joined the group. There were discontent groans but they accepted the dame student in. Yamamoto merely gave an innocent grin. The smile somehow unnerved Tsuna. _'Yamamoto really is suspicious too… He is the freshman who's the baseball team's starter. He has everyone's full trust and respect with that personality of his. But I don't think he would just ask me to be on his team out of the blues…Is he trying to get some sort of reaction from me? Or wanting to get closer? ... Though this is the first time I've been so openly accepted on a team…'_

Being impatient, the gym teacher called out. "Oi! What did I say about chatting! Are you done choosing teams? You brats, get ready!"

Gokudera was currently very annoyed. He actually didn't want to participate, but he figured out it would be easier to evaluate the Vongola Decimo if he was closer. He found himself in one of the two teams on the boy's side. He was in a different team than that bratty Vongola Tenth candidate (and that stupid head named Yamamoto).

For the first half of the game, both teams were on equal standings. The fake tenth has not gone on the field yet, since his teammates preferred to keep him off the game as long as possible. In the second half of the game, the stupid head Yamamoto stepped up as the pitcher, when it was the opposite team's turn to bat. Gokudera grudgingly stepped out of the sidelines and walked towards the center of the field. It annoyed him to no end to participate in such childish games, but he concluded it was necessary if he intended to stay to observe Vongola Decimo's performance. He picked up the bat and held it lazily with one hand, while keeping his other hand in his pocket.

Seeing how Gokudera wasn't taking it seriously, Yamamoto laughed, "Hahaha! That's not the correct way to hold a bat! You need to hold it with both hands! And you need to bend your knees! Only then you can go _bam_ on the ball!" the baseball fan said and demonstrated with his own body by swinging an invisible bat.

Gokudera snorted. "Like hell I care! Just shut up and get over with it."

"You sure? Ahaha, if you say so!" The baseball star stood in position. The instant he threw the ball, his eyes suddenly narrowed. The aura around him changed completely. A split second later, the baseball landed in the glove of the catcher who stumbled and called strike. "Oi, Yamamoto-san! Don't be too hard on us, I can barely catch that!"

"Oh, so sorry," Yamamoto mumbled an apology. "Yo, Gokudera! Do you think you can hit the next ball?"

"What? Are you looking down on me?" Gokudera was really pissed for being caught off guard. All matters about tenth forgotten, he concentrated entirely on the field. Both hand on the bat, he readied himself for the next hit. As the ball flew towards him, his reflex and his mind calculated the exact timing, before hitting it with all his forces. The ball easily flew past the fence with speed.

The classmates gaped. Sure, it wasn't as amazing as Yamamoto's, but it was still something.

Gokudera only looked at Yamamoto tauntingly, as if challenging him. The black haired teen looked dumbfolded, then grinned back. "Nice one! But you still have to run after, you know!"

Meanwhile, without them knowing, both Reborn and Tsuna silently noted Yamamoto's pitching and swinging powers, as well as Gokudera's quick adaptation.

* * *

><p>"In the end, we still lost," one of students on Tsuna's team grumbled. He was a member of the school's baseball team.<p>

The second person, also on the team, shook his head. "It's not that bad, it's just a game anyway. Nothing important, right, Takeshi-san? … Takeshi-san?"

Yamamoto snapped out of his daze and grinned like an idiot. "Aha, sorry."

The second person noticed the baseball star's happy state, and asked, "Something good happening? You look happier than usual."

Yamamoto was confused for a moment, then he laughed again, "Hahaha, really? Well, I just thought of something interesting. I got an idea for the thing that I've been trying to figure out! And then I got a bonus and now it's like two puzzles instead of one!"

His teammates laughed. "Really! I bet it's something related to baseball! Got a new way to improve your baseball playing skills?"

Yamamoto's smile faltered, this time being replaced by a fake one. "Yeah, something like that," he said as he smiled sheepishly.

"Haha, Yamamoto's the best!" the second one cheered as he walked towards the changing rooms. "With him, we're sure to be ready for the big game! No one would be able to match us!"

The first teammate followed, while Yamamoto was still gathering his stuff. However, as both walked away, they continued. "Well, we still lost with Dame-Tsuna over there. I though Yamamoto would even the game out, you know," he complained.

Yamamoto's heart tightened.

"You can't blame Takeshi-san," the other one defended, casually waving his hand to dismiss the idea. "Dame-Tsuna is Dame-Tsuna. He can make _everything_ and _anything_ fail. It's not Takeshi-san's fault that we lost. We simply had Dame-Tsuna on our side."

"Well, Yamamoto was the one who insisted Dame-Tsuna to be on our team… I thought he'd be better than that and would make us win… Ugh, I'm not even in the mood for practice anymore. I think they canceled the baseball team practice for today anyway."

Swinging his bag on his shoulder, the other guy turned and shouted, "Come on Takeshi-san! We need to go home before Hibari-san bites us to death for crowding!"

"Coming!" Yamamoto shouted back. He quickly gathered his stuff as well. He glanced back at the lone person (_'Tsuna-'_ Yamamoto thought) who was standing in the fields with a broom in his hand.

The baseball star joined the rest, still acting cheerful, even if his eyes became unfocussed and smile, empty for a split second.

"Yeah... I need to get ready for the big game..." The last part was more for himself than towards the others.

And then, he became the good old Yamamoto Takeshi again, still smiling.

* * *

><p><em>'Reborn is gonna kill me for going back home late!' <em>Tsuna thought as he held the broom in his hands. _'I wish my classmates would just stop shoving me these tasks every time. I'm stuck cleaning up just because I made them lose their game… It's just PE anyway. At least Reborn went home... I wonder what he's scheming again... No, I take that back. It probably has something to do with Gokudera Hayato, aka Mr. Surprise. They must be scheming for my demise while camouflaging it as training and lessons. I hope I don't die young by all the stress.'_ Tsuna kept swiping the floor like a robot. It continued on for a few minutes before he got really tired about it. He looked at all the space left uncleaned and sighed in disappointment. _'… Maybe I should just go home…'_

He was interrupted suddenly interrupted by a presence behind him. It made him jump all of the sudden and the mafia boss wondered who would stay in school this late (apart from Hibari).

Yamamoto Takeshi arrived with his ever present smile, while carrying a broom over his shoulders. "Help has arrived!"

"Eh? Yamamoto-san! What are you doing here?" Tsuna panicked.

"Ah... I figured you needed some help for cleaning up the whole field. It's pretty big for yourself!" Yamamoto grinned.

Tsuna played with the broom a bit. Tsuna found it weird that he was having any form of interaction with Yamamoto, someone who had only been watching him afar since the past weeks, but never had direct contact. The sudden interest the baseball idol had in him was bad for Tsuna. It secretly annoyed him. Yamamoto attracted too much attention, something Tsuna really did not want to seek. If the mafia boss wanted to stay low and to not get caught by Reborn, it wouldn't do for him to have someone like Yamamoto around. He needed Yamamoto to stay away.

"Sorry, it's just my fault. Just when you let me in the team…" Tsuna said, hoping the other would get the hint to leave him alone. "Uh, you don't have to help me, you know. I deserved this."

"Don't worry about it, it's just PE." Yamamoto kept swiping the floor, not intending to move away at all.

"But..." the small teen injected with a timid voice, "don't you have baseball practice or something?"

Yamamoto's smile faltered and Tsuna immediately took notice of it even if the baseball fan quickly hid behind a fake one. The black haired boy tried to laugh it off as nothing, but it only made Tsuna curious. _'…I hit a sore spot. Interesting. Something must be going really wrong with baseball for Yamamoto if it can break his smile that easily,' _Tsuna mentally noted.

Thinking Tsuna didn't notice, Yamamoto quickly answered before switching to another subject, "Ah, well, no one else is here and I figured out I needed a break from practice. Wow, this is really tiring here! Two is not enough for the job!"

There was an awkward silence for a long moment as both boys cleaned. The only thing that could be heard was the occasional whistling of the wind.

"Aren't you amazing lately?" Yamamoto suddenly broke the silence. "…like in the kendo tournament. I've got you checked in my book."

"**_EH?_**" It took Tsuna all his self control to not blanch at that statement. "Oh… Uhh…"

The mafia boss didn't think Yamamoto would be so directly admit that he was watching him. Though this confirms what Tsuna was suspecting! Tsuna had always thought he caught Yamamoto's attention for making a fool of himself, not by being 'amazing'. If Yamamoto had noticed anything out of ordinary with the way Tsuna acted, had any sort of suspicion about his acting, then he might get into trouble with Reborn and he absolutely **_cannot_** let that happen. This possibility immediately branded Yamamoto as _'dangerous'_.

Tsuna's grip over the broom tightened as he replied, trying to sound nervous and modest, "What, **_no!_** I'm not! I lost the fight anyway and got beaten up and I still fail my grades and I'm not good at sports and I'm useless and I'm not cool like you and I can't even get the basic things right and-"

Yamamoto cut him off, "You really are amazing. In comparison, I just talk about baseball like it's all I know." The baseball star looked up with expectancy in his eyes, waiting for Tsuna's answer to his silent question.

Tsuna chose to play dumb. "What are you talking about? It's that baseball skill of yours that's amazing!" If Yamamoto had a problem in baseball, then it would be good to use it to skip over the original subject. _'I don't want him to find out about Reborn. Knowing Reborn, he would drag Yamamoto into the Mafia world... I won't let you come to me further. I can't let Reborn find out about me and you seem dangerous… And I can't involve someone like you in the Mafia…It would be better if you worry about your own problems first.'_

Even Yamamoto's fake smile faltered.

The taller teen seemed to think about how to answer. After a moment, Yamamoto finally spoke. There was no more hesitancy in his voice. "It's not going on that well."

"Huh?"

Tsuna was not expecting Yamamoto to be that strait forward in his answer. The brunet thought Yamamoto was someone who would hide his true feelings and thoughts behind an idiotic and smiling façade.

"Lately, no matter how much I practice, my average is dropping and my fielding is screwing up. At this rate, it'll be the first time I don't start since I began playing baseball." Yamamoto's tone turned grim, "Tsuna… What should I do?"

"You're asking me," Tsuna stated, brows furrowed.

"…"

"…"

"…"

Yamamoto broke into a big grin, "Just kidding! Lately, you seemed reliable so I just…" He scratched his head sheepishly, looking very sorry for the whole tense atmosphere.

_'I've never seen Yamamoto like this… I want to give him advice but…'_ Tsuna thought.

"I guess… more effort… is the way to go… I think." _'I'm such a liar. That kind of answer is not helpful at all. It's the kind that can be given by anyone and everyone. It's not up to me to figure out the answer, it's different for everyone.'_

But Yamamoto looked convinced. "Yeah! I guess you're right! You know, I thought it was it too! We agree, as expected!"

"R-really?" Tsuna said, skeptical. _'You put too much trust in me… Or are you trying to convince yourself? Of course efforts are important, but you know that already…'_

"ALRIGHT! Tonight, I'll remain here and practice like hell!"

* * *

><p><strong><strong><strong>–<strong> 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 –****

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada residence, Namimori. 5:04pm.<strong>

_'Yamamoto sure is chatty. No matter what I tried he just wouldn't leave me alone until we finished…'_

"Oh, welcome home, Tsu-kun! A friend of yours came over!" Sawada Nana happily chirped at his son.

"E-Eh?" Tsuna declared as he took off his shoes. _'Friend? And who would that be? Last time I checked, I haven't added new people into my friend list. Hum, maybe it's Yamamoto?'_

"He's talking with Reborn-kun right now! They've been in your room for an hour now. Oh, I'm so glad you made a new friend at school!"

_'Not Yamamoto then,'_ the brunet concluded as he climbed his stairs. He opened his room's door and faced with two familiar individual having tea.

_'Oh, what a surprise,'_ he thought sarcastically.

Reborn turned to him and said, "You've met each other before."

"HIIIIIIE? What is he doing here?" Tsuna screamed as he pointed at the other person. The said-person glared.

"He's a member of the family I called from Italy, Gokudera Hayato. As for why he's here…" Reborn flashed the trademark sadistic smirk. "He's going to be your bodyguard, of course."

* * *

><p><strong><strong>–<strong> 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 . 27 –**

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Once again, THANK YOU ALL FOR THE ADVICES! I couldn't have gotten this done without all your suggestions. I just kept reading them and then, bam! And idea hit me. **

**At first, I wanted to introduce Gokudera first, but on popular demand, I decided to Yamamoto as well. So this is the start of the left and right hand men's mini-arc. It's gonna take a few more chapters. **

**Also, I need to say this. This story wouldn't always be as dark as the previous chapter. But there will be darker moments as well. If any of you ever think this story is becoming an M-rated story, then tell me. When that time comes, I will change it. I really don't want to label it as M, because it's normally associated with lemons and this story definitely _is not_ smut. **

**Anyway, I also need suggestions on who would come next after those two! And not just guardians, but also other characters such as Bianchi, Shamal, Futa, I-pin, Haru and all. I think they're important characters too, even if they won't all get a full chapter.**

**As always, ideas and suggestions are highly appreciated! Throw me your thoughts because you never know how it can incubate new plot bunnies!**

**Sorry for this chapter's wait OTL School was busy. The update schedules and writing progress for all of my stories can be found on my profile. **

**Thank you for reading!**

**_Next time: _**_Yamamoto or Gokudera… Who will be the first to act?_


	6. Chapter 5: Rainstorm, part 2

Gah… I can't keep up with my intended update schedule… OTL This was intended to be posted before my bday, but I didn't even get it up by Chinese New Year… Gah… Well, at least it is long? Exams, projects and college application had been keeping me busy. That, and irony: I also broke my left arm =w=, like Yamamoto… More specifically, a piece of my elbow bone detached during a fall. Hurts so much.

Also, thank you all for your support! This story has now it 10k views! Wow, I never thought it would make this far.

Awesome reviewers:

Stargazer, WinterGuardianAngle24, starred, deadly-chronicles, xXxShiniXKazexXx, Brightly Dark, animepie, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, cael05, Zorro robbinson, Aya-chan's alice, Sarah Eustacia Eve Rosalie, Hanasaku, Infinite Whiplash, The stalker from your closet, hokkyokusei, TripOverFlatSurfaces, loldrive, BeArOcKpRiNxEsS, Apostrophia, skitty-nya, Hum-Burgler, PuroCieloFiamme, Kherohi, ezcap1st, EK12, Hypothetical Spiritual Entity, Kuro-chan, Lara

Here goes the usual stuff!

* * *

><p><strong>Warning: Dark, if you haven't got it after the previous chapter. Major OOCness, a not-so-perfect Mafia, angst, blood (gore later on?), swearing, angst, etc. Dark and Psycho Tsuna and co. And different timeline + other non-canon stuff. <strong>

**Disclaimer:** Not mine. But the modifications to the original, canon plot line are.

"Speaking"

"_Speaking in Italian_"

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

Beta'ed by xXxShiniXKazexXx

**Chapter 5: Rainstorm, part 2**

* * *

><p><strong>Takesushi, Namimori, Japan. After school, 5:13 pm.<strong>

"Takeshi, you're going out for baseball again?" Yamamoto Tsuyoshi called out to his son from behind his counter. He was preparing more sushi for the customers when he saw his son all dressed up in his usual baseball attire.

Picking up the stuff he put on the floor so that he would tie his shoes, Takeshi swung his baseball bat on his shoulder. He gave a big toothy grin to his dad. "Yup!"

"Again?" the father inquired, raising a brow. "You just came back home too. You shouldn't practice so much."

Tsuyoshi frowned as he saw Takeshi hiding his distress again behind a quite convincing but fake smile. As a father, he saw through his own son, thus he knew Takeshi was depressed. His son probably knew that he noticed, but no one said anything. They both pretended as if everything was fine. It became like some sort of a game of silence for both.

"Oh, come on pops! I need to practice more! We have a game soon and the whole team is counting on me! I don't want to be dragging the team down." Then, Takeshi added to himself,"I just need to get better... I cannot lose…"

The father sighed, well aware that his son was practically supporting the team _by himself_. His son needed to realize that it was teamwork that counted and not just individual performance. And yet, Tsuyoshi decided to say nothing. Because it was something Takeshi had to understand for himself.

"Besides, Tsuna suggested me to practice more as well!"

"Tsuna?"

"Oh? Haha, oops. Yeah, Tsuna. He's a classmate of mine; little guy, brown hair, screams like _'HIIIIIIIE'_, but a very funny guy!" Takeshi laughed while gesturing his words to emphasis his point. He then added sheepishly, "I kinda asked him in the spur of the moment."

Yamamoto Tsuyoshi was thoughtful for a moment. "Hmmm... You mean Tsu-kun, the boy you used to play with in kindergarten? Nana-san's son?"

"Wow, pops! You remember?"

Tsuyoshi laughed deeply. "Of course! You used to talk about him all day! 'The little boy that let you borrow his crayons when you forgot to bring your own'."

A small blush crept on the teen's face. "Haha, stop it dad, that was long ago!"

Yes, he and Tsuna first met in kindergarten. Tsuna used to have the brightest, most innocent and beautiful smile anyone could imagine. It was so sweet that Takeshi could swear that the bullying had started from jealousy. But despite the bullying, Tsuna still kept the smile, however a shy one, and stayed strong through the matter. Maybe the others wanted to steal the smile? How weird. Oh well, at least Tsuna made new friends!

"Besides, I don't think he remembers me anymore." _'Not that he cares about anything anymore since...'_ Takeshi thought._  
><em>  
>His father served a dish of freshly prepared sushi to one of the customers. He took out a napkin to wipe his hands clean. "Well, it's been quite a while since I heard you talk about Tsu-kun."<p>

Takeshi scratched his head at why he talked to Tsuna again after all those years. "Well…" he took a long pause as he thought. "Tsuna was awesome for a while so it caught my attention."

That much was true, even if he didn't go into details.

He was surprised when Tsuna of all people found himself in a kendo match. Being in a fight wasn't something Tsuna would do, no? But what was he to say if Tsuna liked it? So Takeshi tagged along with the others to watch the fight. Besides, he was curious on how Tsuna fought as well! Tsuna would totally beat Mochida-sempai!

Takeshi was quite surprised when he saw the set up for the match. The baseball fan wasn't an expert in kendo; however, he did know a few basics. (He had always suspected his dad knew kendo, by the way his old man handled the knife when he cut fish for sushi) The way the second sword was almost dragged towards the gym... It was obviously heavier than the first. Wasn't the speed is more useful to mark a point than force? So why would Tsuna want a shinai that offered him a disadvantage?

_'Oh, this fight is rigged, haha,'_he had though, but it wasn't his place to interfere. Besides, Tsuna was having fun, so why bother?

But wow, Tsuna was incredible! He was small, below average in height and has as much strength as a bunny. So how can he use that sword? Since when did the little guy have so much stamina? Wasn't Tsuna always last in gym class, including running? Maybe he was some sort of super hero! Like those who punished bad guys in a boost of power and could fly!

Somehow, he felt attracted to Tsuna. His instinct as a sportsman told him Tsuna would be the one who will solve his problem. Thus, he confronted Tsuna after school. As expected, Tsuna was really smart! The brunet knew the answer to his problem. His instincts were also right to count on Tsuna: when Takeshi asked the brunet about his thoughts on baseball, Tsuna had said...

_"Erm... Well, baseball is... pretty fun as a game, but it's just a game..." Tsuna mumbled on the last part. "Not that I mean baseball isn't important or anything!" Tsuna looked somewhat panicky for no reason. How weird._

"Yeah! I think so too!" Takeshi had agreed back. "It's the best game I've found so far."

Snapping out of his thoughts and looking back at his father who was observing him with a confused face, Takeshi commented, "Thanks for reminding me pops! I think I'll invite him into the team! Well, I need to go! See yah!"

"Oh, is that so? Haha, I can't stop you! Have fun! Just remember to not over exert yourself exercising, Takeshi!"

"I won't! I'm off!"

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Local abandoned park, Namimori, Japan. 8:25 pm.<strong>

Yamamoto tightened his grip as he took a swing at the incoming ball. The impact made the ball soar into the sky.

"Yosh!" the baseball star exclaimed as he watched it fly far away.

Hours has already passed since he had started practicing in the park close to his house. The way no one ever went there made it perfectly peaceful and quiet for Yamamoto to practice. The sportsman was facing against an automatic baseball pitcher. He was surely tired, but he vowed to himself that he needed to improve. It will still be a while until it gets dark, so he intended to stay a bit more.

He wasted no time getting ready for the next ball, which came a few seconds later. Yamamoto took another swing, this time pouring all of his thoughts in his hit. Maybe Tsuna would also be good in baseball? Definitely!

If he was a superhero, he should be good in anything! But it wasn't good for Tsuna to always hide his powers away. Five years ago? That was probably when it changed. When Tsuna came back to school, the ones in his class acted like nothing happened, as if nothing happened during the period of time when Tsuna was…

(Well, Yamamoto himself wasn't sure about it. _Maybe it was some sort of detective game between Tsuna and everyone_?)

And Takeshi wanted to be part of it as well. So he decided to join the mystery game and find out what happened. It even became an obsession that could quite rival his love for baseball. But as time passed, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find the solution to the puzzle. He had observed Tsuna for a long period of time, but couldn't find anything wrong.

Then everyone forgot about the game... Maybe it was getting old? If no one wanted to continue, then it was not fun anymore. He brushed off and continued with his main obsession: baseball. Because no matter what, nothing was as fun as baseball! So he walked away like he never met Tsuna.

But maybe, Tsuna's fight proved him wrong...

Yamamoto hit the little ball with all his power. The baseball flew far away, like the previous one.

And that Gokudera too! That guy was really funny for making weird faces all the time and for trying to play baseball with one arm! That was not how baseball worked.

Yamamoto couldn't imagine what would happen if he only had to play with one arm.

"Oh~! I think this is the last!" he said as he hit the last ball with all his might. Unluckily, he used a bit too much of his strength; the ball flew over the walls of a neighboring house.

"Aha… I think I went a bit too far…" He stared at the direction the ball landed. And it was one of his favorite balls too, the one his dad gave him years ago; and his lucky charm. Sighing, he gathered his stuff, picked up the stray balls and walked towards the house to retrieve the little round object.

To be accurate, it was more of a mansion than a house, a traditional Japanese styled mansion at that. It was surrounded by thick, tall walls (perhaps about 3 meters high? Yamamoto noted) that protected it from any intruders. However, there were evident burnt marks and destruction all over, which made it a miracle that the wall was still solid.

Yamamoto stopped in front of the gates and rang the bell several times, but received no reply. "Ara? I guess no one's home! But I still need to get inside…"

He looked around to look for a way to cross that wall. "Aha, I guess I'll have to climb the wall or something. If it was Tsuna, he'd probably just fly over it or something with his superhero powers!"

He set down his things near the front door. He slowly backed away for a few meters, before dashing towards the wall and using the momentum to jump over the three meter wall like it was nothing. He jumped in the yard and looked around.

"Wow, they really could use some cleaning here." The tanned male commented. The place was really in ruins. The bit of burn marks you could see outside the walls couldn't compare with the mess that was in the inside. Pieces of blackened woods were scattered all over the place, the foundation of the building barely standing. There were other things as well that Yamamoto couldn't identify; but he thought the mansion was very well decorated.

"People have so much realistic decorations these days! Now, where's my-" he suddenly spotted a round object, so white and clean compared to its surroundings. "Well, that was easy."

But unfortunately, the ball was stuck in some remaining wood foundation. It didn't seem very stable at all, so he can't just jump on it. After analyzing it, he deemed that the only way to reach the ball was to climb. Sighing, he carefully climbed on the burned foundation. "I better be careful…"

The wooden frames creaked as he climbed.

'_Almost there!' _He outstretched his right hand to reach the ball. "Ngh… Haha. Got it!"

However, if only things were that simple. Unable to support the weight of a human being, the wooden frame under Yamamoto felt apart. His sharp reflexes helped him to twist his body in time, so the teen landed hardly, but safely on his behind. Yamamoto rubbed his back. "Ugh… Oh, well, at least I'm lucky I got my ball back!"

He undusted himself and stood up, preparing to leave the place. "The owner of the house really need to do some spring cleaning, this place is really too dusty. Well, I better go. It's g-"

Yamamoto wasn't ready when the second wave of wood crashed down. And he watched as the frames felt down, and felt them impaling into his skin.

And on the debris, blood stained everywhere.

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Local Namimori Café. Next day, after school, 4:21 pm.<strong>

"... and there was no other ordinary movement. Aside from that, the only unusual thing is that the Tenth kept looking at Yamamoto Takeshi's empty desk," Gokudera recited his report. He then added quickly, "Yamamoto Takeshi was absent today; something quite unusual since he has never been absent before."

The silver haired Italian looked at Reborn, who was sitting face to face with him drinking espresso. It was his first daily meeting/report since he has been assigned the job as Sawada Tsunayoshi's bodyguard, so he took time to give a very detailed report on the brunet's behavior at school. The local café that they were in were filled with people; it was noisy, but it was the right place to go if you wanted to drown your conversations. (Still, they had been attracting some attention, as it was quite a sight for a small town like Namimori to see a handsome foreigner and a (talking) baby conversing)

Putting down his espresso, Reborn nodded over the report. "Good job, Gokudera." The baby pulled his fedora down over his eyes, partly to hide the satisfied (and amused?) smirk that appeared on his face.

Gokudera Hayato went into puppy-dog mood as he received the praise.

'_I must be imagining things,'_ Reborn thought as he almost thought as he could almost see sparkles appear behind Gokudera Hayato.

All other things set aside, Gokudera Hayato was curious. "Reborn-san, may I ask why you wanted me to observe Sawada-san so closely?" he asked. He then switched to Italian. "_He obviously acts like a... normal... civilian. He looks weak. I'm afraid he will be Vongola's downfall if someone like him becomes boss._"

Reborn threw blank stare at the silver haired boy. "_That's Vongola's internal affair. Shall I remind you that you have not been accepted in the Vongola Famiglia yet?_" he said in a deadly calm tone.

"Please excuse my impudence!" Gokudera exclaimed, switching in Japanese once more. Reborn stared as the Italian teen bowed harshly, a horrified look on his face for having offended the Vongola hitman.

Reborn dismissed the apology.

Truly, the Italian boy was starting to annoy him. _'I do not understand why Nono would send such a boy to me. Gokudera Hayato, the Smoking Bomb, lone wolf, famous in the entire Mafia world. To send someone with no affiliations with the Vongola as the Tenth's first family member is risky, illogical. It would be safer to send someone already in the Famiglia.'_

Then again, it wasn't his place to doubt, even if he was the best hitman. It might seem to be an illogical move; but there was surely a reason behind it. Hyper Intuition wasn't to be underestimated. Nono had never been wrong when it came to judging people's character. As good as Reborn was on the subject, he didn't have the insight of Hyper Intuition. Besides, Vongola Nono was his Boss and the Boss' words were absolute.

Though he couldn't deny the Italian boy was good. Very good.

'_I wasn't expecting Gokudera's arrival until in two more weeks. Nono didn't give him the entire information on Tsuna's location, and yet he was able to figure out the heir's location in only two weeks with only vague directives. From his records, he's also multi-talented. He's a middle to long range fighter, a good tactician when he puts his mind on it, and most importantly, he knows the ways of the Mafia. He has potential, if you ignore his rebellious side. If acquired, he would no doubt be useful to Vongola if groomed and trained properly. He might be a bit straightforward and rash, but we can work on that.'_

He looked at Gokudera Hayato, who was looking back confusingly.

'_That is, if the storm is tamed.'_

Only Nono would do something as to send someone untameable, not even part of the Family, to the untrained and vulnerable heir. Nono sure does have faith in Sawada Tsunayoshi. Not that Reborn himself didn't have faith in his student.

'_No matter, if the Vongola can't have Gokudera, then the others can't. I still have time to judge if he is worthy or not.'_

Reborn smirked as an idea popped in his head. He replied to the Italian teen, "_Tsunayoshi Sawada is the heir because of the blood in him. As a direct descendant of Primo, he is the legitimate heir; and currently the only heir available._ Your job is simply to observe him and report any abnormality. You might be surprised of all the things he is hiding. Don't underestimate my student."

"Wha- But! Reborn-san!"

In a squeaky voice, the baby interrupted, "Good, Gokudera. I will see you tomorrow." And he jumped down, and then disappeared through the door.

'_Oh, I'm interested in how their encounter will come out. It will be interesting to watch.' _It was up to Tsuna. Either Dame-Tsuna acquires a new Family member, or Gokudera Hayato needs to-

'_Yamamoto Takeshi, Gokudera Hayato… I wonder who will be first?' _the hitman asked himself, as if he didn't already know the answer.

Gokudera got up and threw some money on the table. He pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. He took a deep breath of smoke to calm down.

_Sawada Tsunayoshi will be the heir because of his blood, no matter how useless he is._ That was what even the best hitman in the world believed. Yes, Sawada Tsunayoshi was unlike Gokudera Hayato, unworthy heir to his name because he was a _'half-blooded'_, bastard child.

Not that it mattered. Everyone was the same. Sawada Tsunayoshi won't be any different. Those who calls themselves older, more knowledgeable; those who call themselves superior, powerful; those who calls themselves rightful leaders, called themselves his _boss_… They were all the same.

And they all ended the same way.

And he, Gokudera Hayato, was a lone wolf.

Forever a lone wolf.

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nami-middle, Namimori, Japan. Next day, 10:10 am.<strong>

The sky was dark. Despite the time being mid-day, not even a single sun ray escaped those heavy looking clouds. Tsuna looked outside, zoned out from the teacher's lectures. There was no rain yet, but no doubt the rain would fall soon. Perhaps big droplets will splatter on the windows, fall onto the ground.

The boy couldn't help but feel a stone in his chest. It started as a small uneasy feeling he had when he woke up, but it slowly grew. He couldn't even focus on Reborn if he wanted to.

Was he in danger? No, his sixth sense wasn't reacting because of that possibility, so technically he shouldn't be worrying.

He tried to ignore it and concentrate on the ongoing class, as he snapped back to attention. Class was normal enough. The teacher's boring lectures, the snickers of the classmates... And a certain personal bodyguard of his was glaring at him...

And...

Yamamoto Takeshi was still absent. This was the second day.

Tsuna stared at the empty seat that belonged to the baseball fan.

_'Maybe he caught a cold or something…_' He unconsciously shook his head to get rid of his thoughts. _'It wouldn't do good to associate with someone as flashy as Yamamoto. You don't want attention.'  
><em>  
>"Sawada! What are you doing in my class?" the female teacher growled. Unfortunately for Tsuna, the teacher caught him daydreaming. She frowned, unhappy to find someone not paying attention. "Do you dislike what I'm teaching? Is daydreaming more fun to you than actually learning things? If you hate it so much that you get such bad grades in my class, then why don't you just take the door? That way the others can learn while you are free to go rot in your own corner. I don't want to teach ungrateful students such as you."<p>

She glared at him with an annoyed and angry gaze that made Tsuna flinch as a habit. The history teacher pointed him the door ordering him to go out.

Well, at least it gave Tsuna an excuse to skip the boring history class. The dame student lowered his head as he walked towered the classroom door, so that no one could see his face he had. The snickers from his classmates could be heard clearly.

Gokudera Hayato's frown deepened as the Vongola Tenth slammed the door without even looking back once. The Japanese boy didn't even bother to defend himself from being sent out. The fucking brat was such a wimp. Useless. And yet, just because he had a fraction of the Vongola blood!

Tsuna finally realized he had stormed out of the room without second thoughts.

_'What the... I shouldn't just skip class... Reborn would put me through torture if he finds out... Scratch that, I bet he already knows. Hopefully I won't meet Hibari-san as well. Maybe I should go and… check on Yamamoto or something…' _He only took two steps until his logic protested. _'No. That will catch both Yamamoto and Reborn's attention. And I bet Gokudera will be following me as well as my bodyguard: I swear that guy has stalker tendencies rivaling Reborn's. Ugh… Reborn is so cunning for restricting my freedom by using a stalker he calls bodyguard.'  
><em>  
>"What are you doing, Dame-Tsuna?" Reborn's squeaky voice perked from his left.<p>

_'Speak of the devil…'_Tsuna turned around and mentally cursed his bad luck.

"Re-reborn... W-what are you doing here?" he laughed nervously. With a bit of luck, the tutor might leave him alone.

"So, why have you stopped? Shouldn't you be hurrying to wherever you're going?"

"Hiiie?..." _'Damn, he wants me to go somewhere? Unless…'_

Reborn smirked. "He's not home. Yamamoto is on the roof, if that's what you're wondering."

"Eh?" Tsuna shrieked. _' Yamamoto is? I don't think Reborn is lying. What is he trying to bait me for? But why… He- he has his eyes on Yamamoto! …No, I was fool to think Reborn would miss any of those obvious details. Reborn isn't the type to involve civilians unless they benefit the Vongola. Of course with those baseball hits and throws that could match professionals even at his age, Yamamoto has the perfect making for being a Mafioso; and maybe even a threat to Reborn's plans.'_

... He had a feeling he needed to find Yamamoto. If not, something dire would happen…

His logical immediately argued against himself again, to think before caring about other people's business.

Yamamoto was an innocent person and a nice one at that, but with one more person in his surroundings, it meant trouble for him.

Suddenly, a mental image of Yamamoto being 'transferred' appeared in his mind.

"It's best you hurry."

Tsuna caught the double meaning behind the words Reborn spoke. As much as he was angry at Reborn, he knew he really needed to hurry. But the best course may be to go with the flow and not go against the assassin yet.

And Reborn was involving Yamamoto… Yes, that was why. That was why he had to hurry. Because he can't let Reborn do what he wants.

Because Yamamoto was dangerous.

So Tsuna ran, not even caring about Hibari-san's patrols. There were much more at stake than being discovered by the skylark.

The home tutor simply pulled down his fedora, and disappeared in one of his secret passages.

Tsuna's feet let him to the stairs leading to the rooftop. He quickly climbed them two by two. There was a slight hesitation when he stopped in front of the metal door, before he pushed it open. Tsuna was immediately assaulted by a lone silhouette in his vision: a human form that was standing dangerously close to the edge of the roof. The figure had his back turned, but when he registered the brunet's presence, he turned around to face Tsuna. The person's eyes widened at the brunet's unexpected presence.

"T-Tsuna..." The person's voice was so small that it was almost drowned by the rain.

"Ya...mamoto-san."

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p>Back in class, the history teacher was still teaching, like she didn't just kick one of her student out of her class. She had a book in her hand and was giving her boring lecture about ancient Japan. "... January 1868, the Boshin War started with the Battle of Toba-Fushimi in which Chōshū and Satsuma's forces defeated the ex-shogun's army. It allowed Emperor Meiji to strip Yoshinobu of all power, setting the stage for official—"<p>

A pair of hands slammed on a table.

All eyes turned toward the one whoever dared to interrupt the teacher.

Gokudera Hayato had his two hands on the table.

"Gokudera?" the female teacher raised a brow, looking very annoyed and unhappy.

The Italian had a mirroring expression. He ignored the teacher and stood up from his chair.

The people looked back and forth between him and the Japanese history teacher, waiting for one of them to explode. There was a short glaring contest between the teacher and the transfer student, but it ended as the latter just stormed out of the room, slamming the door harshly.

The female teacher let out a string of curses. "What's with these interruptions these days? I swear next time I'll give you all detention!" she said as she continued mumbling about 'stupid delinquents and no-good losers'.

_'He's not here anymore,'_Gokudera noted.

Once outside the classroom, the bodyguard fished for a cigarette and lighted it up as he looked around the empty corridors. The Tenth Vongola boss wannabe was nowhere to be seen.

_'Tch, being a bodyguard is truly troublesome. But since it's Reborn-san's orders, I need to watch over that loser and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid. And perhaps…' _Gokudera's hand patted his pocket. _'Looks like I'm in luck.'_

He left in search of the young mafia boss in training.

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p>"T-Tsuna..."<p>

"Ya...mamoto-san." Tsuna called back toward the other teen, his tone unbelieving at first, but grim at the end. Yamamoto Takeshi, one of the school's idols, was standing on the other side of the roof fence. He thought it was Reborn scheming again, but Yamamoto wasn't tied up or threatened by Reborn or anything.

His minds were making a million possibilities as to why Yamamoto would be standing so close to the roof as if he was about to— "Why are you..." he left the question unfinished, because that's when he noticed the cast on Yamamoto's right arm.

"The god of baseball abandoned me," Yamamoto smiled a bittersweet smile at Tsuna. He turned back to gaze at the empty space in front of him.

The brunet decided to approach.

"There's no need to come closer, Tsuna. It's no use; I've made up my mind. If I'm losing baseball, then I lose my life as well. Surely, you of all people can understand how it feels to not have anything worth living for anymore."

There was a long, uncomfortable silence, where Tsuna closed his eyes, mediating on his response. When he opened them again, they were narrowed.

"No, I don't."

Yamamoto's eyes widened; but his face soon distorted into a frown. "How arrogant," Yamamoto replied back, voice laced with venom. "I guess it was stupid of me to have expected understanding from someone you. It's different when you have nothing to lose in the first place, huh. It must be entertaining to see someone fall."

"**Don't get me wrong Yamamoto. **You are overestimating me. Unlike you, I have never had such intense thoughts as dying." Tsuna laughed dryly. "You say that you had lost something? What about your life? Just because you _might_ have lost a chance to play baseball, you're going to throw away your life? …Then again, I don't have a say either. The will to live… I have come to disregard anything that concerns my life."

Yamamoto quickly defended himself. "Baseball is my life. It always has been! Losing an arm wasn't simply a defeat for me and my team; **it was my personal game over**."

"Losing is painful, isn't it?" whispered the loser of the school. But Yamamoto heard, and nodded in slightly in agreement. Tsuna clenched and unclenched his fists. "…If you're so fond of dying, then I won't stop you. I won't deny that death seems inviting when it ends all things you know."

But then, Yamamoto noticed something wrong with Tsuna. The feeling coming from Tsuna was slightly different. Maybe it was because the aura was more welcoming then usual? It was weird. The only thing that changed on Tsuna's face was perhaps his eyes; they looked bigger, wider, more innocent, and sweeter. His posture, his voice however stayed the same.

Tsuna smiled at him, and at him only. "Still… This might seem empty coming from someone like me, from Dame-Tsuna, but… even if the god of baseball abandoned you, it won't matter."

But as fast as the weird aura came out, it was gone.

"If you want to die, then do it. It may be freedom. It may be the easiest way out… But in the end, only the dead knows, but the dead don't have a chance to tell us. Baseball god abandoned you? Prove him wrong then! Make him regret doing so! … In the end, it's your choice, to live or to die, you still have a choice."

Silence.

Somewhere behind both of them, a door opened.

Tsuna and Yamamoto stared at each other.

Silence.

Then…

"I wasn't wrong about you!" Yamamoto let out a laugh, as if he suddenly found out how stupid this whole ideal was. He ruffled Tsuna's hair and grinned. "You really are awesome! Let's be friends, Tsuna!"

One second... Two seconds... Three― "_HIIIIIE?_ M-me? W-why?"

"Ahaha, nice joke! Of course I mean you! I'm not talking to Gokudera, am I?"

"I want us to be friends, Tsuna. You're such a mystery, more than any of the other students on this school. Perhaps, you can even taking off my mind from baseball, for a bit. I'll prove the baseball god wrong then."

Tsuna was quick to reply. "But! I don't think it's a good idea! It won't do good for either of us! Euh... I mean... Well... Because there's something about me that you don't know... I... Well... It might be dange-"

"Didn't I say that you were a mystery? That's what I like about you! I don't care if you seem to always hide do many things! I don't mind at all, haha. I'll try my luck with you. Just don't worry about it. Don't be so stressed, you'll get white hair!" However, the inner look in Yamamoto's eyes seemed to implore Tsuna to oblige with his wish. There seemed to be no way of stopping him; that was the kind of person Yamamoto truly was.

In the back of his head, Tsuna laughed. How so frustrating, how annoying! This was probably what Reborn wanted anyway, for him to befriend Yamamoto and drag someone with potential to the mafia world.

...Perhaps it was time to take a strategically retreat. If he refused Yamamoto further, it would seem really suspicious. He didn't like to go along with Reborn's plans, but he reluctantly decided to do it anyway, for the sake of a greater good. Yamamoto's perception is still dangerous, so he might need to… later.

Hesitantly, he walked toward the fence and offered a hand to Yamamoto.

"Thanks, Tsuna!" the latter smiled brightly and took the hand, understanding that the other accepted his friendship. "I guess that'd make me the second person to win your heart after your big bro-"

Tsuna's eyes changed.

Yamamoto didn't have the time to finish his sentence, when the fence felt apart in a booming sound. The baseball fan was leaning against the fence, and had suddenly lost his footing.

It didn't take long for the ground to disappear under him, for him to topple down into the empty space.

Exactly like how he had broken his arm.

Only this time, he will lose his life.

And Tsuna, who was just offering his hand to Yamamoto…

* * *

><p>Gokudera, who had sneaked on the roof and hid while both Yamamoto and Tsuna were looking away, took a puff of smoke from his cigarette. He watched calmly the scene as it happened.<p>

With one last puff, he threw the cigarette on the ground and stepped on it.

His smoke sticks had served their use.

He watched both of them, the Vongola Jyuudaime and that weird baseball nut, fall into the void.

Then the 'bodyguard', the lone wolf named Gokudera Hayato, simply walked away.

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p>They both fell.<p>

In a rush of adrenaline, Yamamoto's eyes caught every instant in slow motion.

The moment the fence suddenly cracked under the exploding pressure, he felt wind from under him, as the floor became unbelievably empty.

It didn't even take him more than a millisecond for his instincts to catch on with his solution. He was going to die.

And for an instant, he thought of maybe letting go. He looked up toward the dark sky...

NO!

Thoughts crossed his mind in a way they never did before. Memories, of his father's laugh, of his deceased mother's smile, of his friends, of his first baseball match...

And a challenge. A new challenge, _a promise made to Tsuna_!

The game called life didn't end when he couldn't play baseball anymore. He had mistaken the rules of life. He still had more rounds to go, more balls to hit. He couldn't let it end it here! He needed to play the game! He needed to play the game! _He needed to play the game! _

By instincts, he reached for anything he could, _**ANYTHING**_, to stop from falling; so that maybe, maybe, he can get another chance!

He grabbed Tsuna.

When Yamamoto realized what he had done, he immediately released the other boy. But it was too late. His momentary force, accompanied with the laws of gravity dragged Tsuna with him over the edge of the roof.

Time slowed down for Yamamoto as Tsuna's fingers also brushed against the edge of the roof. They slipped as well. They both were left falling, with Tsuna only half meter above him.

Their eyes met.

He saw surprise flash inside Tsuna's eyes; their pupils dilated. And what was that strange orange color?

Yamamoto tried his own pitiful attempt of grabbing something―anything to save himself. But with only one functioning arm, all he could do was to claw the wall. The rough texture of edge painfully scrapped his fingers until they bled, but even then, it didn't delay the fall even a bit.

There was no use.

He was going to die.

_And he dragged Tsuna along, too._

What had he done?

If he knew, he wouldn't have attempted suicide.

He closed his eyes, praying for a miracle.

He heard a shot. _A gun shot?_

He felt the wind, whispering death to his ears as gravity pulled him to his fall.

**And then, and then―  
><strong>  
>Pain shot through his head as if his head had exploded. Blood spurt out of his wound, life slipping through.<p>

**―and then, he died.**

* * *

><p>Reborn smirked. His Leon earpiece still on, despite the fact that he had no use listening to his student's and Yamamoto's conversation anymore. His sniper rifle let out a bang that would be sure to keep Dame-Tsuna alive.<p>

He fired a Dying Will Bullet.

As death approaches, things became clear.

* * *

><p><strong>Truth.<strong>

_'Death... I will die.'_

**Desperation.**

_'Why did this happen?'_

**Regret.**

_'Had I known I would die, I wouldn't have said the things I said. At least, I wish I didn't drag you in all this... Not a friend...'  
><em>  
><strong>And... A dying will...<strong>

_'I... I...'_

**"I WILL SAVE TSUNA WITH MY DYING WILL!"**

Tsuna was surprised, shocked maybe, when he got dragged down by Yamamoto. It wasn't supposed to be like this! His eyes flashed orange, his basic instincts of survival wanting to take over. He was about to take action when suddenly, Yamamoto got shot. The blood bloomed out like a rose, but was immediately replaced by beautiful blue flames.

_'D-dying Will Flames!'_Tsuna realized; his eyes immediately turned back to their caramel colors.

"I WILL SAVE TSUNA WITH MY DYING WILL!" Yamamoto shouted.

The dying worked its miracle and removed the limitations of the human body. Yamamoto suddenly felt a power spreading through him and felt more alive, more capable than ever.

_'I must save Tsuna!'_

With a manoeuvre that Tsuna thought the other was incapable of, Yamamoto's foot caught the borders of one of the open windows. It stopped him from falling. Then, with his working arm, he grabbed Tsuna's hand firmly.

This action caused the brunet to crash into the wall in a swing. "Gah!" Tsuna choked out. It hurt, but it did good to stop his fall.

Yamamoto was hanging upside down from a third floor window; while Tsuna hang by Yamamoto's left hand, with feet dangling in the air. For now, they were both still alive, but the problem was not solved. A dying will bullet only lasts for five minutes; and their hands were starting to sweat.

"Hang on, Tsuna!" Yamamoto called out, blue flame burning with vigor.

"Y-yes!" Tsuna called back, surprised by Yamamoto's attitude. Why the hell would he care about Dame-Tsuna?

Not that Tsuna cared. He gripped Yamamoto's hand more intensely.

And he forced himself to trust Yamamoto to get him out of danger, to act 'normal' as Reborn was watching them both.

Yamamoto felt like he never did before. Despite his current situation, he had this spirit inside him, this _Will_that forced him to save both his life and Tsuna's. He could cry out for help, but from the look of it, there was no one in class from where he was hanging. Waiting or calling for help is impossible as well; he knew he can't hang on for that long despite having this mysterious power.

"Tsuna! Do you see that block over there?"

"Y-yes!" Tsuna confirmed. He understood immediately what Yamamoto wanted him to do.

"Swing yourself and catch it!"

"Bu-but I!"

Without waiting for Tsuna's confirmation, he roughly swung the other. Like in his survival training with Reborn, the mafia boss in training immediately caught. He flipped and give a kick against the wall; jumping towards one of the tree branches near the windows. Tsuna looked up. The position that Yamamoto was in didn't give him a nice safe way to land, and was too far to reach the trees (not to mention in his upside down position Yamamoto can't jump) Unless Tsuna got help, the baseball fan will not go unharmed.

But Yamamoto still jumped. And most surprisingly, he landed safely on two legs.

Tsuna hid the calculative thoughts he had while he showed an amazed face. _'I see… So this is what Reborn meant when he talked about how his bullets removed outer limiters. Useful, but…'_ He remembered Yamamoto's dying will. _'not worth it.'_

'_But Yamamoto however!' _he looked at the baseball fan with true dread.

The blue dying will flame extinguished.

As if mocking them, the rain chose that moment to start pouring down.

Droplets felt on Yamamoto's head, sliding down on his face. And along, they washed away the red stains of the closed bullet hole on his forehead.

Yamamoto lifted a hand to catch the red raindrops dripping from his chin, unable to stare away from it. He was in a state of stupor. Even the clueless Yamamoto couldn't let pass this show of supernatural.

Finally, he lifted his head to look into Tsuna's eyes.

"Tsuna..." the taller teen finally let out hesitantly, but was still unable to finish his sentence further.

"I..." Tsuna tried to respond, but couldn't, not finding the right words that would fit this situation and to not make it worse. Yamamoto was probably scared. He must be blaming Tsuna for being the cause of this problem. Blaming Tsuna for messing his life. Blaming Tsuna for...

"I'm sorry." Tsuna bowed low, wet bangs covering his face.

Was he sorry?

Yamamoto didn't say anything. He couldn't say anything. He looked down.

No other words were exchanged.

And both felt the recent bond of _friendship_being washed away by the rain.

Broken.

Even when Tsuna was long gone Yamamoto Takeshi looked at his hand again.

"Why..."

"What are you hiding Tsuna..."

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Nami-middle. Night, exact time unknown.<strong>

Long pale fingers traced the bent form of the cold glinting metal. Steel blue eyes narrowed.

Hibari stood on the top of the roof, glaring at the big gaping hole of the fence.

Which stupid herbivore dared to do this? He will bite them to death.

His beloved Nami-Middle was damaged. Not to mention, it was the fence of his favorite napping spot.

That fence. They were new; and Hibari had made sure he got fences of the best quality too. There was no way they could be broken so easily; he had thrown people against it so many times and it never broke before.

It was no accident. Had a student died today from falling from the roof, he would call it murder; because someone obviously tampered the fences.

A powerful burst burnt the fences, deforming and weakening them, right before extra pressure was added. Assumingly, something heavy was thrown against it right after. And judging from the size of the hole, the weight was a human.

Someone attempted murder. On his territory.

Hibari squinted for any possible evidence of what weakened the fences.

Suddenly, his piercing eyes spot some burnt, but previously red pieces on the ground.

He turned.

"Kukasabe, investigate."

The head prefect handed the pieces to his right hand man.

Kukasabe nodded. He examined what the Skylark handed to him.

Leftover pieces of a miniature bomb.

* * *

><p><strong>-Chapter end-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

Even after Tsuna was long gone, Yamamoto was still standing in the rain.

He looked as his hands.

And then he looked down.

Only then, did he notice that he was drenched, and only had his boxers on.

And all he needed was a cape to become superman.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Reviews? ^_^ And taking ideas and suggestions as well!**

**I would also like to feature a few stories:**

**Guardian's trust by MistressYuu**

**Awesome AU, with a different way on how Tsuna gathered his guardians.**

**Child of the Earth, Angel of the Sky by DarkestCornerOfMyMind**

**This a a complete AU, but is also really awesome~**

**These both has well written plot, so it would be fun to check them out~**

**Next time: **_And so, the storm?_

**Remember, a review a day, keep the author awake. **


	7. Chapter 6: Rainstorm 3: Attack by Storm

Ok, a little later than scheduled, but better than nothing. At least it didn't take two month...

I got accepted into my college! ( ´U` )ﾉMy personal project is over. And my arm healed (; u ;)  
>That's three problem solved. So I would get more time to write and stuff. X3<p>

A big heart and lots of love to my awesome reviewers:  
>Unknown Variable, Aya-chan's Alice, seansunflower, Belletiger BT, , EK12, Nana, 10th Squad 3rd Seat, Seriyuu, Koyuki11, Clams-and-Rainbows, InfiniteWhiplash, loldrive, Hypothetical Spiritual, Kirimi-1999, TheLazyOtakuWithTooMuchTime, vampire696, Hollow-Inuyasha, Polar Pig, TripOverFlatSurfaces, Toko Kyotaro, qqsha, aurla0, cael05, The stalker from your closet, Kuro-chan, Stargazer, R.N. Saints, xXxShiniXKazexXx, starsinjars, OrangeSkye2772, Yuu3, Soul of The World, Stalker Of Reactions, TSL Dowi.<br>I'm sorry I don't reply to all your reviews, but I do try my best whenever I log on to ffn on my computer (which is rarely) But I you're your reviews all over again when I lack inspiration or feel lazy. You guys makes me feel so special. I love you guys, you're fuel that keeps this story going! Thank you! m(-u-)m

Ok, enough for the chitchat, as always, the real A/N is at the bottom. Let's start with the usual disclaimers and shiz~ A reviewer suggested me to do re-caps. Since I know how long I take to update, I think it's a good idea. Though they'll be brief because I don't want to reveal all the lampshading I was doing. x3

So here we go!

* * *

><p><strong>Warning: major dark OOCness, Psycho Tsuna and co, a not-so-perfect Mafia, angst, blood (gore later on?), swearing, angst, etc. And different timeline + other non-canon stuff. Unbeta'ed<strong>

**Disclaimer:** Does the new KHR arcs feel more and more random and contradicting? Does it start to make less and less sense and more illogical power-ups? With bishonens and character overload? Yup, those belong to Amano-sensei alright.

* * *

><p>"Speaking"<p>

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

**Note: I think in this part Reborn wouldn't say all ghost things out loud, but to differentiate Reborn from Tsuna's thoughts, I made it that way.**

* * *

><p><strong>-Story: start-<strong>

* * *

><p>Recap:<em> A transfer student named Gokudera Hayato turned out to be Tsuna's new bodyguard. Yamamoto approached Tsuna after school for advice. When Yamamoto returns to school, he was trying to suicide because of a broken, but was stopped by Tsuna when the fence broke. Yamamoto was shot with a DWbullet and both managed to land safely. However…<em>

* * *

><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 6: Rainstorm, part 3: Attack by storm**

* * *

><p><strong>Sawada Residence, Namimori, Japan. 7:11pm.<strong>

When Tsuna finally got home, it was late, and he was wet from head to toe. He had unknowingly spent so much time in that old abandoned park, not caring about the rainfall at all.

There was no Reborn at sight, not since the roof incident. But he was probably still observing him in some corner.

Gokudera, his supposed /bodyguard/, was nowhere to be seen as well. Tsuna knew why he wasn't though. After the roof incident, Gokudera proved to be quite a _'bad bodyguard'_.

Laughs.

His mother did not say anything about him skipping class for a whole day, nor did she fuzz over him coming back late and completely drenched. Instead, she smiled and asked if he was hungry, and told him she had prepared a hot bath. To be honest, Tsuna wasn't hungry; but he ate a bit for his mother's sake.

Well, at least it was his favorite― hamburger.

During dinner, his mother asked him the normal questions, like how the day was, how the diner tasted like; and then talk about what this neighbor said and what that one would do.

Tsuna sweatdropped. He tried to answer her questions awkwardly, but his mother went on Nana-mode and daydreamed her own fantasy version of things that happened. It was just a Sawada typical diner, like the ones they used to have before a certain tutor came along. It was one of the rare things he still cherished in life.

Tsuna let out a small smile.

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p>"Dame-Tsuna," Reborn called, "make Yamamoto and Gokudera your subordinates."<p>

The tutor jumped on the bed, looked at his student. Tsuna chose to ignore the hitman, as dangerous as it was, and instead just stared at the ceiling. He really wanted to think alone for a moment, and do not wish for Reborn to mess up his mind.

Sadly, his wish was unanswered: Reborn was still there. Reborn was waiting for an answer.

Tsuna closed his eyes, finding the right words to fit in this situation, so that he can calm down enough to only let the _right_ emotion slip. It didn't take long.

"Are you serious?" Tsuna shouted, anger flaming in his voice. He sat up abruptly and stared at his tutor right in his eyes. "There's no way! You can still say that after what you did to Yamamoto today?"

Reborn inwardly smirked at the sudden boldness his student showed. He replied with all the seriousness of the assassin he was, "Yamamoto has the makings of a hitman. He is perfect for the mafia. As for Gokudera, he's rebellious; you need to win his loyalty."

"Yamamoto isn't mafia!"

"Ignoring him would be a waste of talent."

"That doesn't give you the right to decide!"

"It's not yours either."

"You are speaking _as if he has a choice!-_"

Tsuna stopped, turned away.

The hitman repeated, "Like I said, it's not yours to decide." He looked at Tsuna; he knew that Tsuna wasn't stupid.

And Tsuna wasn't. He knew too well that Vongola wouldn't let go of talent.

Yamamoto is an innocent bystander, just a civilian. But Yamamoto is too dangerous. The guy lacked common sense, but it didn't mean his insight ability is to be underestimated. If Yamamoto was at Tsuna's side, then it meant it was easy for him to randomly slip up things about Tsuna that Tsuna didn't want people to know.

Yamamoto knows about Onii-chan.

Yamamoto wasn't supposed to.

No one was supposed to.

Calm down. Tsuna took a deep breath, so that Reborn doesn't notice the emotions that were stirred inside him.

Reborn was silent for a while, observing his student, before he declared, "I'll help you this once. I'll talk to him."

The future boss nodded hesitantly. "And Gokudera. Isn't he already obeying you? Since you made him my bodyguard." He avoided adding 'against my will'.

Tsuna didn't like Gokudera; for any and every reason. Gokudera was like those other people the brunet punished. One of those who picked on others weaker people because they didn't please him, one of the troublemakers that didn't care about the world.

And he was already on the list.

"Baka-Tsuna," Reborn hit Tsuna's head hard, earning a yelp from the latter. "Him listening to my orders has nothing to do with you. If you don't earn his loyalty, then he will be betraying you sooner than later." Reborn then titled his hat down. _'Gokudera isn't loyal to anyone, not to the Vongola.'_

"Hiiie! He already hates me! I can't!"

"That's the whole point of winning his loyalty, stupid student."

Reborn was offering Gokudera to be Tsuna's subordinates? Gokudera's loyalty to Sawada Tsunayoshi and not to hitman Reborn? Was Reborn trying to insert of his man to Tsuna's side?

No, it couldn't be. A bodyguard was already movement-restricting enough; it was useless to makes Gokudera something more... hard-core.

When he thought about it, it was true. Reborn was bringing subordinates to _Tsuna_, and removing those who would harm him.

Reborn, as sadistic he was, cared for his student's well-being.

It made Tsuna happy.

Because Reborn will make things easier for Tsuna.

So he asked hesitantly, "H-how will it work out?"

Oh, if only he knew how much Reborn was having fun right now. Reborn pulled his hat to cover his eyes, to hide the amusement dancing in his eyes.

"You can-" And Reborn made a simple suggestion.

Surprised, Tsuna said, _**"What?"**_

"It's a good way: the way of the mafia."

"There's a rule like that in the mafia?" It sounded suspicious though, too simple. "…I'll think about it," the Japanese boy said after a moment of silence. His instincts were tickling. Should he go with the flow once more?

"It's not a suggestion. You better act fast, because not everyone can wait."

Reborn then pulled out a bunch of books out of nowhere. "Now, for tonight, I want you to read this before bed. Everything."

"Whaaaa? All that?" Tsuna screamed at the three heavy books Reborn pulled out.

"Shut up, I'm going easy on you. Now..."

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Middle school. The next day, after school, 5:44 pm.<strong>

Gokudera Hayato stared at Vongola the Tenth, eyes wide with disbelieve and cigarette threatening to fall out of his open mouth.

"You want to challenge me."

"Y-yeah," the wimp said.

Snapping out of his shock, Gokudera's logical side finally reacted. He couldn't help but to be suspicious of the sudden change in initiative. "I am your bodyguard. Why the fuck would I do that?"

The wimp bit his lips. The wimp didn't answer.

Obviously the wimp was scared; and yet there was defiance in his gaze that wasn't quite hidden.

Why would the coward named Sawada Tsunayoshi be the one to challenge him? Wasn't it supposed to the other way around?

It seriously annoyed the bomber. Gokudera clicked his tongue, narrowed his eyes.

"Tsk. Reborn-san made me your bodyguard, not a fucking babysitter for you to have a catfight with."

But it might be a good excuse to fight and eliminate the failure...

The stupid brat put his fists up in a defensive position, bit ready to attack any time. He was also shaking slightly. For a split moment, it made Gokudera rethink of the image he made of Sawada. "Gokudera-san, p-please fight me."

"_Why _do you want to fucking fight me?" He emphasized on the first word. Isn't the wimp scared? No, there must be an ulterior motive.

"Be-because Reborn asked me to challenge you."

Then, Gokudera remembered. Yes, why hasn't he thought about it? There was a general rule in the Mafia. The loser was to become the winner's subordinate. He gritted his teeth. It was a cunning choice.

Reborn chose that moment to jump in, literally, in between the two teens. The baby stared at Gokudera, and confirmed, "Yes, Dame-Tsuna speaks the truth. I asked him to fight you."

Gokudera opened his mouth to say something, but Reborn cut him off.

"This is a test for both of you. To determine if Tsuna will be a worthy boss," Reborn continued. The tiny hitman looked at Tsuna and smirked. "Of course, if Tsuna loses, it would mean he is unfit for the role. If you manage to kill him, you can become the tenth boss of the Vongola."

Tsuna's eyes widened in panic and unspoken horror. He didn't even notice he jumped back a little in instinct.

"HIIIIE? You never said that Reborn!"

Both Gokudera and Reborn ignored him.

_'No, he can't do that! It can't be right! I didn't think he would go this far! No, calm down, Tsuna, __**calm down**__. Think logically. They can't get rid of you. Not this way. Remember, Vongola picks their heirs by blood. If there was a better candidate to begin with, they wouldn't have come to me. That's right. That's right. It's all bluff. It's just bluff.'_

"So I only need to kill him, right?" Gokudera was skeptical. No, it was more like: he knew it was a lie. Vongola was inherited by Bloodline; _everyone knew_. Killing the heir, for whatever reason, means betrayal. Betrayal meant death. The Vongola, they were fucking with him, Gokudera Hayato. They want him to lose to that brat, or he will die. They want him to swear his undying loyalty to the fucking weakling, by the laws of the mafia.

Like hell he would do that.

If these bastards think he was reformed and tamed after all the shit that happened, they were wrong. They were all the fucking same. Life over pride? Hell no.

"Alright," Gokudera Hayato agreed.

Reborn hopped away, innocent baby smile on his face. _'Let's see how long my stupid student can keep up with his charade.'_And the Smoking Bomb was so riled up. Foolish youth.

"G-Gokudera-san?"

The Italian teen turned. He fumbled his pocket, and reached for something cylinder, reddish, and threw them. "Die!"

Tsuna shielded his eyes from the flying dirt and the intense smoke. He coughed out smokes and dust. _'Explosives? Sure they are weapons, but in battle?'_

Gokudera judged the wimp's ability. Slow reaction. No brain. "Tsk." The half-Italian lit up a new batch of explosives. He aimed and threw, scattering them around the brunet.

_'I see, so this what Reborn meant, when he introduced Gokudera as "Smoking Bomb Hayato". I thought it was because he smokes too much.'_

A bomb dropped too close for his liking. Tsuna immediately grabbed it and defused it. "HIIIIIE!" Tsuna shrieked at the burning pain on his hands, but didn't stop. He ran around, stepping on the bomb fuses as he went along.

_'His footwork is good,'_ Gokudera noted. _'Such a precision for someone not related to the mafia until recently.'_

No matter.

"Not bad for a loser, however you can't defuse them all!"

Tsuna narrowed his eyes. _'He's right. I have to prevent them from exploding! But I don't think I can defuse them all like this.'_ Then he remembered Reborn. _'I need to think of a way. I need time. Reborn that bastard is still around.'_

He looked around. The field was empty of people. Good.

_'I need to get out of his range. Stupid sixth sense that told me to do this on school grounds! Hibari-san is going to murder me!'_

"Don't fucking run away, you coward!"

Tsuna took a sprint around the school with Gokudera on his heels. He managed more or less to dodge all of them, but the property damage around him was impossible to ignore.

Suddenly he turned and jumped right in, taking Gokudera by surprise.

"What the hell?" It was only by training that the Italian reacted fast enough to throw a bomb at Tsuna, the throw was however weak and slow. It was just enough for Tsuna to react.

_'Reborn needs alive, because I am the last blood heir left. I am officially his pupil. Reborn can't kill me, he has no right to.'_

Tsuna caught it and threw it far away.

_'And for that, I have an advantage over them!'_

He spun 180 degrees and hit Gokudera right on his arms, making the other drop all the dynamites in his hand. With his legs he kicked the dynamites away to explode in the distance; while grabbing both of Gokudera's arms to prevent the bomber from reaching for more explosives.

The silver haired youth didn't abide. He head-butted Tsuna, then punched the brunet in the stomach. Tsuna jumped back to evade the blow. It proved to be a bad move, because the second later, Gokudera's bombs were in view again.

Tsuna threw a worried glance around.

_'Shit! Reborn saw that. I'm overdoing this.'_

* * *

><p>His Leon-binoculars in hand, Reborn was enjoying what he was seeing.<p>

"My stupid students wants to make me believe he progressed enough because my training to be able to dodge bullets in two weeks?"

"Smart, but sadly, he lacks experience and knowledge. No matter how good a tutor I am, there's a limit to how fast you can progress. And that much muscle in two weeks is impossible, even if he has the Vongola blood."

* * *

><p><em>'No, I'm wrong, if he did figure out, it must have been some time already.'<em>

Dodge again, defuse. The mafia boss grabbed the fuses, and kicked away those he couldn't defuse.

_'So as long as I keep a believable level while fighting with Gokudera, it will be fine.'_

* * *

><p>"I will play Dame-Tsuna's game. Let's see how long he will keep up with this."<p>

The hitman's riffle was ready. In case Tsuna was really in danger, he will not hesitate to terminate the rebellious bomber. Talented individuals were rare, but it palled in comparison of the Vongola blood.

* * *

><p><em>'Reborn can never be 100% sure. Until I admit it, or make an obvious blunter in his face, there's no solid proof.'<em>

* * *

><p>"There's no need for a proof to know he's good. It is the Vongola bloodline running in his veins. However... I want to see with my own eyes what even Iemitsu couldn't see in his own son."<p>

* * *

><p><em>'So it must be to make me reveal myself that he is pushing me-'<em>

* * *

><p>"I will push Tsuna to his limit... Because he is my student. I will wait if I must. Wait until one day, he gets the courage to face his own potential and not hide."<p>

* * *

><p><em>'But I cannot give up! They cannot know...'<em>

Tsuna's hand reached a large piece of rock. Enough to kill a person if it hit someone's head.

_**'FOR ONI-CHAN'S SAKE!'**_

* * *

><p>…<p>

"Iemitsu..." Reborn sighed.

He looked at Tsuna's direction with fondness that he would never show in /anyone/'s presence. The fight was wonderful, even if Tsuna wasn't giving his all. It was like a furry storm in raging in a restrained sky.

"...You did a poor job of understanding a son that you claim to love so much. But I can't blame you."

He became grim.

"After all, even the Vongola doesn't know about... whatever happened five years ago, during those two weeks when Tsuna went missing."

* * *

><p><strong>-Unrelenting Fate-<strong>

* * *

><p>Tsuna threw the rock directly at Gokudera's chest area. The thing hit Gokudera on his forearm. Making him drop the dynamites he was holding in his left hand. Too close. Not enough time to evade.<p>

"Damn that!"

He got rid of the ones he was still holding to bend down and defuse the ones on the ground.

Tsuna used that moment to try to find other possible weapons. He then spotted a perfect one for him, a broom lying near the wall. He took a dash.

Gokudera, after defusing the bombs, saw Tsuna running away. He reached for his pocket and took out a different kind of dynamites. They were redder, smaller, more accurate… Deadlier. He threw them above Tsuna's destination.

A pot crashed on Tsuna's right, a hair away from his head. The brunet looked up to see bombs exploding on the window above him. Pieces of glass rain around him. He rolled away before the main piece crashed over him, but some stray pieces cut him all over his body.

These dynamites were stronger than the others he used from before. While the others would burn a person, these would make them explode.

He threw them.

"This is the end!"

Tsuna hid a smile. _'Looks like my sixth sense might be right.'_

A black blur suddenly appeared out of nowhere and swiped the dynamites. they exploded a few dozen of meters away. A silver stick was thrown at the Italian's face, sending him flying backward.

Gokudera stood up as quickly as he could. He nursed the bruise on his face and glared at the intruder. "Who the hell are you!" He however, had no difficulty to recognize this infamous black haired youth that was standing in front of him.

"I will not tolerate a shameless herbivore endangering the students and damaging the school." Hibari Kyoya, head prefect of Namimori middle spoke. "People like you needs to be punished."

Gokudera frowned, growling, "Like he'll I care about a pathetic school like this." Readying his weapons, a dynamite in each hand, he identified the prefect as an enemy and faced him.

"Those." The prefect looked at the red miniature dynamites. "You were the herbivore who dared to break the fences."

The Italian was taken aback. He was sure no one was on the roof that day except the wimp, the baseball nut and him.

"So what if I weakened it," Gokudera growled. "If the baseball idiot and that useless brat just happened to have fallen on it, and broke it, then it was just their bad luck."

Hibari narrowed his eyes. "I'll bite you to death." He vanished.

"First rule. No smoking on school grounds."

Gokudera didn't have time to blink. His cigarette was wiped away from a single blow.

Gokudera immediately jumped back, shocked by the speed, but forced himself to stay calm. Hibari bent down near where Gokudera was standing before and picked up his tonfa. He threw something on the floor, and that's when the Italian finally noticed that the chains on his modified uniform were torn off.

"Second rule: The dress code needs to be respected."

"You bastard!" The Italian promptly threw his dynamites at the prefect. Hibari swiped away the fuse. The dynamites dropped innocently on the floor.

"Third: No one but me is allowed to bring weapons."

"The fuck is that logic!"

There was a gush of wind aiming for his head; Gokudera ducked as an instinct. A tonfa passed over his head, missing by a centimeter, cutting a few strands of silver hair.

However Gokudera will not let himself to be taken off-guard again. He was an experienced mafioso despite his young age; he will not let some civilian get better of him.

The reach of those tonfas is limited. As long as Gokudera stayed out the reach, he will have the advantage of the fight.

From his right pocket, he pulled out his lighter, and a few more cigarettes, held them in-between his lips. At the same time, he lit out some dynamites as well, throwing them at Hibari. He ran, trying to distance himself from the prefect, using the smokes as a cover.

The dynamites annoyed Hibari; they impaired his vision and slowed him from biting the herbivore to death. Not that they were much. He dodged the first two thrown at him; swooped away the third.

"Take this, you biting bastard!" An impressive quantity of dynamites was thrown. There was no way for an untrained person to react, let alone to evade at all. "Double bomb!"

"Weak."

Accurate swipes immediately defused them.

Gokudera cursed. "Triple b-"

The demon prefect closed the gap in between them both. He brought down his spinning tonfa on Gokudera…

…Right at the herbivore's temple.

The prefect was not kidding. Death to those who even dared to consider harming Namimori.

Hibari hit air.

Gokudera crashed to the ground, probably bruised, but safe. The mafioso didn't have time to react, but he was left speechless when his mind caught up with what happened.

"You-you saved me..." The half-Italian muttered, extremely shocked that a wimp would protect him. "Why?"

Tsuna didn't even look back; his eyes were solely focused on Hibari. "There's no reason," Gokudera heard Sawada Tsunayoshi say.

Hibari was getting impatient from the herbivorous exchange.

"Move," he growled towards the smaller herbivore, "unless you want to be bitten to death first."

The small brunet didn't budge.

"Are you defying me, herbivore?" Hibari narrowed his eyes and glared at the small brunet, expecting the latter to flinch and start apologizing. However to his surprise, the herbivore didn't respond, but simply held firm and steady, unlike the herbivore he was supposed to be.

Could it be?

"Are you defying me, Sawada Tsunayoshi?" he repeated.

Then finally, he saw the orange glow in the boy's eyes.

Hibari smirked.

He found the fault.

"Fight me."

With a clang, a tonfa embed itself in the wall behind the place Sawada was standing a split second ago. Sawada Tsunayoshi himself was already standing three step away.

Wao.

But then, Sawada Tsunayoshi suddenly made a herbivorous move: he turned and escaped.

...

Hibari didn't hesitate to follow, leaving the Italian delinquent alone, in Namimori Middle School.

Saying the infant hitman was highly amused was an understatement.

"Not bad for a plan, to try to escape my view range." Too bad Dame-Tsuna underestimated Reborn. Knowing its master's will, Leon shifted from a binocular into a large TV screen.

_'If that stupid student of mine thinks I have only planted cameras in the school, then he's still too naive.'_

Immediately, different scenes popped on the screen: there were views on different sections of the town, and, on the bottom, a there was a map on which a red dot flashed―Tsuna's current position. Never once was Tsuna out of view, the cameras shots switching from one view to another one.

The head prefect Hibari Kyoya wasn't far behind. However, unlike Tsuna, he jumped on roofs to evade the crowds that were now pilling in the streets.

The student ducked into the street on his left. Hibari followed. They were getting further and further away from the school, and by consequence, from what they assumed to be "Reborn's sight".

But the red spot on the map kept beeping. Never did they actually leave the screen.

That is, until Tsuna reached the Namimori forest. Namimori forest didn't have any cameras installed on the inside, only on the outskirts.

Smart move.

His student was definitely cunning.

Tsuna only looked behind once, then ran into the forest. Hibari was right behind, also disappearing inside. The red dot on the map kept beeping.

"So here you are, Reborn."

A pair of arms suddenly wrapped around the infant's body. Reborn felt breath tickle his ears, and hair brush on his face.

The same smooth voice whispered tenderly to his ear.

"I've been looking for you."

* * *

><p><strong>-Chapter end-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry if this chapter is shorter than the rest. I just felt like it would be good to cut it there ^_^ Sorry if I end it in a cliffy, I'm just too used to manga chapter cliffies that it just doesn't feel right without one... They corrupted me...****ヽ****(****；****；****)****ノ**

Hope the fighting scene isn't too lame and the scene switching isn't too confusing. I've tried my best! If you have any suggestions, feel free to do so.

(Kudos to those who can guess who is the one at the end! ... It's too obvious actually. XD)

I forgot to ask in the last chapter, what do you guys think of omakes? Like the one in the end of the last chapter. They'll most likely be little canon side-stories, but don't fit in he general dark mood... Would you guys like more of those? Not in every chapter, but whenever an idea of one pops out.

And tell me if I'm rushing things. I think this chapter was a little fast paced. (´

**( ･****u****･****`;) With more stuff revealed, Reborn knowing about Tsuna hiding things and all... I guess I'm getting impatient. XD Wanna get to the good part. ( ´ **** ` )****ﾉ**

Some of you might realize now why I asked you if I should add Yamamoto or Hibari in this chapter. Well, it was to intervene in between Tsuna and Gokudera's fight... Originally, it was supposed to be Yamamoto, thus reason I named the past chapters "Rainstorm". Since I changed that, I deemed it more appropriate to change the chapter title a bit. Don't worry, I still have things planned for Yamamoto, because he's like Tsuna's left hand. I love their trio, no way am I leaving him out.

Once again, please review and let me know you guys are still reading!

Next time: _Tsuna chuckled. "I believe the correct name for them would be Dying Will Flames."_


	8. Chapter 7:  Of Truths and Loyalties

Pfff. My procrastination is legendary. Took so long for this chapter. =u=;;;

Anyway...

A big heart to my reviewers!  
>Hypothetical Spiritual Entity, Unknown Variable, Stalker Of Reactions, loldrive, phppsmss, phppsmss, Moonpuzzle, Gokudera Arashi-sama, jiake97, reije, Metamorcy, TSL Dowi, R. N. Saints, TripOverFlatSurfaces, al ilmo nour, xXxShiniXKazexXx, The stalker from your closet, CH0C0CANDYZ, Rilliane, starsinjar, BrokenBlackCat, Ayz283, nwyd, Kildosad, Estelle, Person, Unknown, AJaxs, Sofimiscat, White Ivy, vrriacho, seireidoragon, Lorotte, Luving Randomness, Seriyuu, Anti-Social Otaku, w- easy enough, Chi-tanda, Silverblueroses, ben4kevin.<br>Hurray, I've reached 200 reviews with this. ;u; This story is more popular than what I thought it would be. I thank you all for the support! I shall never abandon this story! (=u=)/ (Even if I do procrastinate a lot... OTL)

Congraz for those who guessed correctly who it was at the end of the last chapter. Aha, I guess it was a bit too obvious. XD

To Estelle: Lol, next time make sure you have an account so I can answer all your questions. ^3^ I think a lot of people were asking the same question. No, it's not because the bullying that Reborn killed Mochida. You see, before Reborn met with Tsuna, he only knew about his student from what he saw on his report. Thus, he planned something to 'initiate' Tsuna, like he did in Canon: with a fight against Mochida where Tsuna would win after being shot with the DW bullet. However, after seeing Tsuna in person and judging him, he decided what he has planned initially wasn't suited for Tsuna. Especially after Tsuna said he has no will to live. Reborn deemed Tsuna physically strong, but with a weak willpower. Thus, he thought that Mochida might be a lot of other psychological disturbance and such to Tsuna. So more than physical, Reborn is trying to eradicate anything that /might/ be dangerous to Tsuna's metal state (cough). Well, that's what Reborn must be thinking. Not to mention Reborn is being overprotective, a bit too much... Added with personal pride, in which Reborn wouldn't admit he was wrong by eliminating the evidence of his mistake. Or maybe it wasn't his de... Hmm, I said too much...  
>And about why 'transferring' hasn't been found... It's Reborn. It's Vongola. It's mafia. As if police can do anything against them.<p>

Ok, anyway. Here we go with the chapter. Have fun reading!

* * *

><p><strong>Warning:<strong> OOCness, Dark and psycho!Tsuna and co, angst and more angst, blood (possible gore later on), _swearing (A LOT IN THIS CHAPTER)_, etc. Different timeline, non-canon stuff, plot twists.

Disclaimer: Thank you, Amano-sensei, for creating such wonderful characters for us. Especially Tsuna. TYL Tsuna. (O/,/O)

"Speaking."

_'Thinking'_

_Flashbacks/dreams_

* * *

><p><strong>Recap<strong>: _Tsuna challenged Gokudera on Reborn's request. In the middle of their battle, Hibari appeared and fought Gokudera. Just as Hibari was dealing the finishing blow to Gokudera, Tsuna intervened. Taking interest in Tsuna, he followed the latter into the Namimori forest. Meanwhile, Reborn gets a visitor._

* * *

><p><strong>Unrelenting Fate<strong>

by Taira-keimei

**Chapter 7. Of truths and loyalties**

* * *

><p>In which he remembered<p>

_For Gokudera Hayato, Japan was the land of beautiful cherry blossoms his mother had once told him about. It really was a beautiful place, much different from the Italian streets he had gotten used to. He could almost feel as if there was a part of him longing for this place; like this would soon be a place he would cherish for the rest of his life._

_But Japan was also a mission, bestowed by the Ninth boss of the most powerful Famiglia in the world, Vongola Nono._

_The Ninth was a gentle old man. He didn't fit at all in the image most would have of a Mafia boss. At their first and only meeting, the ninth had looked in his eyes and smiled. It wasn't a smile like the other bosses that he saw; this one was kind, was calm, and held no malice behind it. "It's my pleasure to accept you in the Vongola Famiglia," Vongola Nono had greeted. The extended hand surprised him, but he shook it, maybe more for appearance's sake than for respect._

_"However considering your background, you cannot automatically join the Famiglia. So I believe it's best for you to take a mission first, before we accept you fully in the Vongola."_

_The mission was to test his loyalties and skills, he knew that much. Admittedly, he was eager to prove himself so he could join the ranks of the most powerful Famiglia, but he also wanted to experience the family he would now be working for. To see if the Vongola was the same as the rest of them._

_So he accepted._

_Vongola Nono smiled understandingly at him. The Ninth's eyes―Gokudera could almost believe they were reading his soul._

_But it was impossible; no one would ever understand him. None of them did._

_..._

In which he hesitated

_He was struck dumbfounded at his mission._

_Sure, Vongola Nono was a nice man, even Gokudera might respect someone like that; and yet, he couldn't help but to think the old Ninth had gone senile._

_Who would give the Smokin' Bomb, the dangerous lone wolf that no mafia family dared to accept, the job to guard Vongola the Tenth, the sole heir of the biggest Famiglia?_

_It was either insanity, or an ultimate test of loyalty._

_Or both._

_..._

_Vongola tenth was disappointing. That was the conclusion he came onto after he spent a few days as the Tenth's bodyguard._

_The Vongola Tenth was a wimp. Stupid, coward, weak, useless._

_Unable to survive in the Mafia world._

_Too pure, too innocent; unlike the rest of the mafia, unlike Gokudera. That brat didn't deserve to guide the mafia, not when he couldn't understand their pain, their sins, their deeds._

_...That brat would get corrupted; that innocence would go down the drain..._

_But he was the Vongola heir._

_Because of his bloodline?_

_It wasn't fair! It wasn't fair! That a useless person becomes accepted because his blood; that he, Hayato Gokudera who was much more capable was refused because of his 'filthy blood'! Just because he was the 'bastard half breed!_

_And that wimp will one day become like all the other bosses before him! That useless brat will learn to abuse his power. That brat will be corrupted by the mafia. He will tell lies. He will betray. He will... He will..._

_He will..._

* * *

><p>In which he questioned<p>

_Defeat wasn't something Gokudera acknowledged. He wouldn't admit it, even at the cost of his life._

_But that tonfa; he felt it when it was about to hit him. He knew the aim was perfect, that if the hit landed he would either die or stay a vegetable for all his life._

_Somehow, somewhere inside, he could hear a sad song luring him to death... It sounded like the song his mother always played..._

_That brat pushed him away._

_He did it, even when Hayato Gokudera tried to kill the wimp. That brat could have left his enemy die. As much as Gokudera hated to admit it, the demon prefect would have either killed him or maim him for life._

_But the wimp helped him._

_For a single instant, he thought he saw his own reflection in those big caramel orbs; like a mirror reflecting his soul. But that illusion was quickly erased in a golden flash, before the brunet turned away._

_He needs to know why._

_Why, why,_why_ would a wimp like that, someone unrelated to the mafia, someone who was his enemy do that?_

_He needs... to know..._

_if Sawada Tsunayoshi was truly different from the rest._

* * *

><p>And then...<p>

_Gokudera Hayato stood up and chased after the fading shadow of Sawada Tsunayoshi, the tenth leader of the Vongola Famiglia.  
><em>

* * *

><p><strong>Near Namimori school ground, Reborn's location.<strong>

"I've been looking for you," the voice whispered in his ears.

Reborn didn't bother to check to know who exactly it was. The long flowing pink hair, the tender tone in that voice, the arms that held him, but most importantly, that perfume can't be forgotten.

"Ciaossu," the hitman greeted. "You came here earlier than planned, Bianchi."

The pink haired woman, known as Bianchi, chuckled. "I couldn't stand being away from you, Reborn." She threw a look at the screen where it showed the video of a certain silver haired Italian―her brother. "And of course, I can't leave Hayato alone in this country, knowing he's here. The poor child, he's so confused."

Reborn had a mocking smirk, without his eyes leaving the screen. "Confused is quite a word for it," he said.

The cameras were long out of range since his student entered the Namimori forest. It was a good move (_too good to be coincidental and unplanned_). However, he could get from only a global position and audio effects. The red dot on the screen beeped and flashed on a map of Namimori and showed Tsuna moving inside the forest. His earpiece rang with ruffling noises and branches snapping, with occasional yelp from Dame-Tsuna. Which means that he wasn't caught yet. Good, his stamina is good enough to outrun the school prefect. Not to mention the speed in which he was moving was faster than he was supposed to. Reborn regretted not being able to watch, and mentally noted that he should add cameras inside the Namimori forest, because it is just too good of a hiding place for enemies to ignore.

Bianchi, on the other hand, had her eyes kept on her brother Hayato, evaluating her sibling's growth after all those years. Her face betrayed no extra emotion or thoughts.

After a few minutes, she sighed.

"My poor Reborn, you don't belong here. To be stuck in a place like this is against your nature. You belong on the battlefield, with me... The Vongola heir is such a handful."

"Tsuna is my charge," Reborn answered calmly, long used to the demeanor. "No matter how troublesome it might be. And it is also _against my nature _to not finish a mission."

"You said the same thing when you were training the Bucking Horse. You have a too soft spot for your students. It took so long the first time, and now would be the same. How I wish we could go back to the old times... But alas, you'll be bound to this place, unless the heir dies."

"You will be a traitor to the Vongola if you kill the heir. Death is the only thing that awaits traitors."

The Italian woman laughed, "Oh, my love. You know me too well. But I wouldn't mind doing that for you! As long as my Reborn is free, it will be enough for me." She cuddled the infant in her chest, with all love and kisses.

On screen, Hayato running towered the forest. The pink haired woman smiled mysteriously, "Well, I don't actually need to intervene; Hayato will do it for me. My love, you know it, don't you? There is a reason why he is a notorious lone wolf in the mafia. From my knowledge, Hayato's reputation had never failed. This time wouldn't be different."

* * *

><p><strong>Meanwhile, inside the Namimori Forest.<strong>

The Namimori forest was on the edge of the town, a giant patch of land full of untamed trees and wild animals. Rare were those who ever wander in: people usually stayed on the outskirts of the forest. It wasn't one of those forests a normal person just walk in, because the deeper you go, the branches and the fallen trees made it harder to walk. The visibility isn't good either; the forest was dense and blocked away most of the sunlight. There were probably wild animals too that might attack visitors. Not to mention any normal people would inevitably get lost inside, and risk being attack, dehydrated, or starved to death. It was a mysterious place that most preferred to stay out, the perfect place to hide things that shouldn't be known.

It was exactly there that Tsuna led Hibari.

The brunet jumped, skipped, dodged and slapped away the branches that were in his way. Hibari did the same, sometime jumping on trees to advance faster.

If one where to think logically, Hibari should have long caught Tsuna, however the prefect remained behind, the distance between themDenver shrinking nor growing.

When Tsuna deemed they were far enough inside the forest, he suddenly stopped. It was one of the spaces near the lake, where the trees are less dense, where there was dried mud and wild grass growing instead.

Jumping off tree branches, Hibari landed in front of him.

"HIIIIE!"

The brunet turned his back to run the opposite way. However, Hibari gave him no time to escape. In a swift movement that even Gokudera couldn't have seen, the prefect brought down his tonfa right on Tsuna's shoulder.

Right on the tracker a certain tutor had put on his student.

The instant the electronic device dropped on the ground, Tsuna swifly stepped on it to be sure it was out of work. He turned. His facial expression was a 180 degree turn from the one he had worn a second ago: it was serious, confident, it was that of a carnivore.

Tsuna gave a Hibari curt nod of thanks, smiling. The prefect didn't reply; and glared, pissed for having to run across the whole town and for having to leave that bomb delinquent in his Nami-Middle.

"Finally. I have waited long enough for you to stop that herbivorous act, Sawada Tsunayoshi." The prefect brought up his twin tonfas, ready to strike.

Understanding Hibari's unsaid challenge, Tsuna answered firmly, "No, it's not the time for a fight. I'm here for business."

Weighting the pros and cons of not fighting, and knowing well that Sawada wouldn't have led him to a secluded place for other reason than business, Hibari decided to lower his weapons. For now.

"Speak now, my patience is running low."

Tsuna chuckled. "Sorry about that, Hibari-san. I had to bring you here. It would be hard to evade my tutor otherwise. Though this is a one time trick, next time this place wouldn't be safe anymore."

"Explain."

The younger boy paced around. He closed his eyes and brought hands at his temple and rubbed them to ease the potential headache. "You know... about the cameras and the microphones he implanted in the school, am I right?"

Hibari's eyes narrowed. "What do you ?"

"I thought so."

That Sawada Tsunayoshi... Is involved. The cameras Kusakabe had found were a sign of intruders —and rather skilled ones if they managed to infiltrate inside the school on his watch. Not to mention the culprit intruded his territory since two weeks ago, and the disciplinary committee has yet to catch him or her.

"You're right," Tsuna answered, very well aware of the prefect is suspicious of. "They are the doing of my tutor. He's watching me to the point where he's implying Nami middle in his affairs. I'm sure he's done more than that, but I can't keep up with all his movements."

"Hn. You are proclaiming that a simple home tutor is capable enough to accomplish that."

The future mafia boss nodded slowly. "That would have to be the case, if he is a simple tutor." His hands clenched into a fist. "However, he's not. In fact, my _dear tutor_ would be _worthy _enough as a carnivore for you."

The word carnivore was appealing. But as much as the presence he felt these past weeks was strong, Hibari was highly skeptical. Even the whole wide world, the number of people he would ever call a carnivore will always be countable with one hand.

Tsuna shook his head and smiled. "I'm not lying. Would the world's best hitman suit your tastes?"

No, it wasn't because he didn't believe the intruder had the strength. "You are hiding something, Sawada Tsunayoshi," the carnivore warned. The question was _why _Sawada Tsunayoshi attracted someone like that. Hitman don't become home tutors, unless there was a special motive behind it.

Bringing up a hand to scratch his chin, the smaller Japanese boy pondered for a moment, pacing around a nearby tree. When he looked at Hibari again, he worded his answer slowly and carefully, "He asking me to be the next leader of an organized crime organization. Apparently, my ancestor was their first boss and I'm a direct descendant, making me a legitimate heir. My tutor was send by their current boss to 'teach' me." The brunet paused, looking at Hibari's reaction. "...And you can say... I agreed."

The second after, Hibari had Tsuna pinned against a large tree truck. The latter didn't appeared surprised, nor did he move at all. A tonfa under Tsuna's chin, the head prefect said in an icy voice, "Criminals syndicates aren't allowed in Namimori. A Namimori student joining is even less acceptable. You should know. Yet you decided to crowd around guilty herbivores, when you well what the consequence of opposing the peace is."

"You're right," Tsuna answered flatly, his voice low and emotionless. "But it is what I decided. It must be done. They offered me power; I'm not naive enough to let go of such a chance."

More pressure on Tsuna's neck. "Disgusting. You have no shame, no pride. I've only tolerated your actions because they're assisting the Disciplinary Committee. If your affairs become a thread, I will not hesitate to bite you to death."

The smaller boy laughed like it was the funniest thing ever, his voice distorted by the pressure applied to his neck. "Really Hibari-san! You're speaking as if you won't bite me to death regardless!"

Hibari glared at the crazy joyful face Tsuna was wearing as the brunet kept laughing like a maniacal child despite that he should be on the urge to choke.

There was only one flash of orange before Hibari was pushed back along with tonfa. He was roughly slammed into the tree behind. However, it wasn't enough to make Hibari fall, only slightly lose balance for a 100th of a second. The prefect could have immediately conter-attacked. But something catches his attention. Hibari's pupils dilated slightly, showing one of his rare moments of shock, before they went to a crazy fascination and excitement.

Sawada Tsunayoshi, the one he had long been watching, this person that couldn't be defined as neither herbivore, carnivore nor omnivore...

He took a step closer, captivated, excited, lured...

That power that fascinated Hibari so much, that he wanted to know, wanted to own, wanted to fight above all! That blazing, golden, immortal flames that danced upon Sawada Tsunayoshi's forehead. Those calm, cold, yet sweet and burning eyes that watched the world with a disinterested superiority! Those eyes that he will crush,

A golden fire...

Tsuna nodded, knowing exactly what Hibari was thinking.

This fire, to Tsuna was the ultimate power he needed to achieve his goal. Because of its existence, he will have access to the Vongola Famiglia's throne. It was probably the gift his dear Onii-chan gave him accomplish his duty...

With a calm, smooth voice, the little brunet whispered to Hibari, "I believe the correct name for this power would be..." His dear tutor Reborn's words and their meeting flashed in his head. Sawada Tsunayoshi's smile twisted.

"Dying Will Flames."

* * *

><p>Somewhere else inside the Namimori forest, Gokudera Hayato was following the tracts that Tsuna and Hibari left behind.<p>

The part Italian had tried following that 'bite-you-to-death' bastard and Tsunayoshi Sawada across town. Key word being he tried. Little by little, the distance between him and the two people he was chasing grew, until he lost them in the crowds. Luckily, the people on the street seemed to always make way for Hibari, which made the prefect easy to spot.

When the teen mafioso had finally arrived at the borders of the Namimori forest, the other two had long disappeared behind the sea of trees. Gokudera had erased the thought that he might get lost in the unfamiliar forest, instead he had stepped in without hesitation.

Despite knowing the basic survival tricks like picking up people's tracks, something he learned when he was a stray on the Italian streets, it will take some time for him to find them both. He let out a string of Italian curses. He could only hope the two didn't go too far.

* * *

><p><strong>Reborn's location<strong>

Statics was the only thing that could be heard in the Leon-earphones. Even the red dot on the screen disappeared.

_'So Hibari knew about the tracker. They both knew.'_

The talents in Namimori are really exceptional.

Leon, knowing his master didn't need to watch anymore (there was nothing to hear or watch with a destroyed tracker), transformed back to his chameleon form. The cute creatures climbed back on his usual resting spot on Reborn's fedora, and got himself comfortable. Reborn caressed his partner as thanks for the good job.

To give Dame-Tsuna credit, he let the thing go. It meant their little hide and seek game would last longer. He turned to Bianchi.

"I am very we'll aware of your brother's reputation," Reborn confirmed to his lover. "It's the very reason I don't like him."

Bianchi looked apologetic. "His reputation in the underworld, both as the illegitimate son of my father Don Giovanni, as well as for his temper and skills that earned him the nickname of Smoking Bomb," the woman commented. "My poor brother had a rough time since he left the family on a whim."

"It's his own fault. Even as the illegitimate child, his position as the heir of the Giovanni family should have been enough for some families to welcome him with open arms. And you know how your brother reacted to that."

"No, it's our fault he turned out like that. We hid too much from him, and now he became rebellious."

"It's not a reason to baby him. His choice remains his, and so are the consequences. If it wasn't for the Ninth's request and for being your brother, I would have terminated him on sight."

* * *

><p><strong>Inside Namimori Forest<strong>

If Tsuna was "Dame-Tsuna", he would have cried and peed in his pants at the intense bloodlust Hibari was emitting. But he didn't. Because Dame-Tsuna was a cover. A cover.

The Tsuna standing in front of Hibari had golden eyes, not caramel brown. He had different aura than that of the normal wimpy Tsuna. He had an golden orange flame on his head.

"It's been some time since I used the power of this fire."

"Hn."

One of the reasons Hibari controlled his desire to fight Sawada Tsunayoshi was because whenever they actually confronted, it would inevitably end in a fight. No matter how far their "agreement" went, there was no way they trusted each other. And because of their distrust, their 'casualconversation would escalade in a fight. But Hibari would welcome a fight with open arm. Especially when Sawada Tsunayoshi would use his power.

A slight dose of golden flames surrounded Tsuna's limbs. Using the power of the Dying Will Flames as a booster, the brunet sprinted to Hibari. With one tonfa the prefect blocked the blow aimed for his neck, with the other, he dealt a blow at Tsuna's ribs. Tsuna didn't let Hibari have his chance. He stepped back, then gave an upper kick aimed at Hibari's chin. The latter dodged with ease. Tsuna immediately hammered his leg down, aiming at his head, but fronted at the last moment with a punch that landed. The punch made take Hibari step back.

Hibari was excited! It has been so long he had fought Sawada Tsunayoshi! And even longer since he wanted to finally face those flames! So he attacked, attacked, attacked, attacked!

It was exciting, wonderful, powerful!

He was lured by that power. He wanted to destroy it.

How beautiful it would look when he would have that power crushed.

Tsuna and Hibari exchanged numerous blows, not one giving in to the other.

Tsuna's laughed at Hibari's _'enthusiasm'_.

"Now, tell me, Hibari-san," the younger boy taunted. "You ask me for my pride? Ha ha ha! You're right! Maybe I have none. What's the use for it?" He kept laughing for a long time all the while blocking Hibari's blows and striking back. When his laughed finally died down, "... I do have pride. I simply define it in a different way than you do. And I'm ready to sacrifice everything I have to accomplish it. Namimori included."

Sawada's words was annoying, it was pissing Hibari off. Not only was he not concentrating on the fight, but he was also mocking him AND not really using those golden flames of his. However, Hibari knew the boy was speaking the truth. He still don't like it.

"You're trespassing your lines." Hibari's own pride growled, feeling annoyed that another being wthrowing as it pleased in his territory.

Yes! He will crush the one who insulted Namimori! He will defeat him. He, the carnivore will stand above the corpse of the others.

He hit a switch on his tonfas. Spikes emerged.

"Ooooh! You're getting serious!"

Hibari launched forward once again.

The right tonfa passed right beside Tsuna's face, cutting a few strands of hair. The second, the left, was impossible to dodge as it followed closely. Tsuna gave a swift and powerful upper kick directly on Hibari's left hand. It was so powerful that it made Hibari lose his grip, sending his tonfas flying in the air.

As the tonfa spun in mid-air, both opponents evaluated their situation. Both knew it was a good chance for Tsuna to hit when Hibari would be distracted by his missing tonfa. With a hammer kick, Tsuna brought his feet down to Hibari's shoulder. The raven haired youth didn't let his opponent have the upper hand: he blocked the leg with his remaining tonfa, and pushed Tsuna back. It was just enough time for Hibari to jump up and catch the other tonfa before the brunet kicked his ribs.

The prefect grunted, spun his tonfa once again in a rain of attacks. His opponent did the same, countering and attacking too.

Tsuna grabbed both of Hibari's tonfas. The latter could feel his tonfas heat up, and he instinctively knew that if he didn't let them go, he would suffer severe burns in his hands.

Hibari kneeled Tsuna right in his stomach, making the brunet lose his grip on his weapons. Tsuna felt behind, but flipped in mid-air. He landed perfectly a few meters away, but didn't move to attack the prefect more than that. Slowly, smirking in victory, he stood up.

With annoyed eyes, the Namimori prefect looked at his tonfas. The heat was slowly fading, but finger prints have already melted the surface of the tonfas and the sticks were bent. He probably can't retract the spikes anymore either. He would have to get new ones. The Sawada bastard wasn't getting serious.

"Are you ready to talk now?"

Hibari stayed silent, still looking at his tonfas. So Sawada Tsunayoshi wanted to postpone the fight. It was no fun if his opponent didn't fight him seriously. And unusable tonfas are useless. "I'll bite you to death for this," the demon prefect promised.

The future mafia boss looked at his opponent with bored, glowing orange eyes. "Shut up, it's getting old. Namimori doesn't matter to me like how it matters to you. I don't have a duty to it like how you do. We've only reached an agreement in between both of us. I know that you're perfectly aware of it. What matters now is mutual profit. And for me, mine will naturally come before yours. So stop using lame excuses just for your own bloodlust's pleasure. And from my knowledge, I haven't breached our agreement, so it's an invalid excuse."

The boy wasn't so bad. It was true that he did use it as an excuse. But Namimori was his territory and his words were law, thus Sawada's words has no ground to stand one. "Oh? You've been negating your duty for the past weeks. Because of that, herbivores were running around more than necessary."

Sawada Tsunayoshi was supposed to take care some of the troublemakers in town, including some of the not-so-bright side of Namimori. And yet, he didn't. It's been a few weeks. It seems that the dark side of the town haven't realized yet that they weren't being judged, but Hibari did.

"I have my hands full at the moment, that's what I've been trying to tell you."

But Hibari saw it as an excuse.

Sawada Tsunayoshi sighed deeply, passing a hand in his fluffy hair. "No it isn't, it's the truth. I don't think we have much time before Reborn finds us or something. I'm not going against Namimori or your reign. But I can convince you that Reborn and his troop is. That guy named Gokudera Hayato, that one with the bombs, is the proof that he already started calling people to Namimori."

"That kendo herbivore Mochida," Hibari pointed out.

"Yeah, I know, you're right, I don't think he transferred. It wasn't really his fault. The guy didn't do much; he was just more arrogant than normal people. I only gave him a warning. Unfortunately, my _dear _tutor decided Mochida was removable."

"..."

"I don't want more incidents like that to happen. It doesn't do any good for neither of us. So, _please_, Hibari-san." Tsuna will plead if he needed to, if it helped Hibari agree with him.

Hibari was aware of Tsunayoshi's intentions, but judged it benefited both of them. Their contract was mutual benefit in the first place, after all.

"...Fine. This fight is postponed. I will tolerate your behavior. Instead, your tutor will fight me as well. I'll judge if he's really the carnivore you say he is."

Tsuna grinned widely. "Deal. Add other potential good opponents too. If Vongola is really the top exiting criminal organization, then the news of me being chosen as the heir is bound to leak sooner or later. When that happens, the members of the underground will show up in our town, allies and enemies alike. Well, you'll know when. The local Yakuza will know if Italian mafia steps on their turf. The informants of the Disciplinary Commitee that you have sent inside different Yakuza families will tell you when that comes."

"Hn. You will still judge the guilty herbivores."

"...I will try. I will be taking care of the ones nearest to me, so leave me Reborn and company. But I can't promise anything for the rest. That will be like giving me death warrant. I'm going against Reborn, and he's already figured out something, but I can't let him learn more ab..."

Tsuna suddenly stopped. He noticed a new presence that was listening to their conversation. The brunet wondered how much the newcomer had heard; he was too occupied in explaining things that he didn't notice earlier. Hibari don't pay attention to other things when engrossed with his prey (or more like, doesn't care). That, and the newcomer was skilled enough to hide his presence.

Inside his head, the mafia boss in training wondered why he was always interrupted, but figured it was normal since Reborn came to tutor him. Hibari also noticed Tsunayoshi's behavior, and couldn't decide either to be annoyed at the interruption or amused at the pout the little brunet was wearing.

Tsuna rolled his eyes.

Upon that, thee demon prefect settled for a slight smirk that Tsuna deemed as a mocking smirk. Either way, their conversation was mostly over. "Don't break our deal, Sawada Tsunayoshi. Use that power of yours."

With that, Hibari jumped on a tree branch and disappeared into the dense trees.

Tsuna sighed. Hibari was still Hibari, untameable and aloof. The best he qualify it was complicity and a contract for both of their interests.

Turning around, he looked at a certain silveret, who was standing there with an unreadable expression on his face.

"Gokudera Hayato," Tsuna acknowledged with a small nod.

How to deal with him? His head was starting to hurt for having such a complicated life. _'Hibari-san probably wants me to take care of him first to prove I can deal with these Mafioso's... Really, it's tiresome. Gokudera; I thought I would be able to confuse him enough so he stays engrossed in his own personal mind... Looks like I've underestimated him; he's willing to trail me for answers and had to butt in my personal affairs. Just like Yamamoto, he might be a threat to me. I don't know how much he has heard, but the smallest thing that he reports to Reborn...'_

Tsuna thought he saw wrong, but he could almost see invisible tears of anger, of despair, of... falling off Gokudera's eyes. But there was no actual tears. Gokudera seemed... disappointed. Those emerald orbs that screamed "why did you betray me" confused Tsuna. Why would he disappointed?

Evade the current subject. Test the waters first, and not be hasty in his decision, like he had been since Reborn came. "Are you here to protect me, as my bodyguard? Thank you, you're doing a pretty good job," Tsuna said, with the sarcasm barely detectable with his monotone voice.

Still, knowing the bomber's temper, he would have jumped over and cursed Tsuna with all hate and disgust he could put together. But the uncharacteristically quiet "...Why?..." that came out both alerted Tsuna.

"Why what?" _'How much did you hear?'_

"...Why... did you lie..." Gokudera muttered, almost inaudible. But Tsuna heard clearly. He was pretty surprised and amused by the weird question.

Liar. _Liar?_He wanted to laugh. Of all things the guy had to say, that was all? He looked around, as if Gokudera was talking to someone else. "Me?" he pointed at himself, playing innocent. "What are you talking about, Gokudera-san?"

Gokudera finally looked into his eyes... Like Tsuna expected, there was anger, but… What was this? Sadness and… Betrayal? Those eyes… _'Like a mirror,'_a small voice inside of him whispered, but Tsuna didn't pay any attention to it.

"YOU LIAR!" Gokudera shouted. In seconds, the bombs were out, lit and ready to be thrown.

Tsuna was glad that they were near the lake, as the trees were less dense, thus less likely to be burned by explosions.

"Liar?" Tsuna repeated monotonously, after dodging and defusing all the explosives. "Tell me what I did to make me a liar."

Gokudera narrowed his eyes, seemly confused for a while, trying to word out his own answer. He clinched his hand, unknowingly crushed the dynamites he was holding. Noticing it, he cursed, and threw the crushed dynamites away.

"You... You pretend to be weak, innocent and unaware of the world, but you're just a liar with pretty words! A fucking liar! If you become the tenth, then you will end up just like them!"

"I'm not like them! DON'T COMPARE ME TO THEM! I WILL NEVER BE LIKE THEM! YOU THINK YOU KNOW EVERYTHING BUT YOU'RE JUST DELUSIONAL!"

Gokudera sneered. "Delusional my ass! I won't be fooled! You're just like them! LIKE ALL THE OTHER MOTHER FUCKERS THAT ARE PART OF THE MAFIA! ALL THOSE LIARS WHO PROCLAIM THEMSELVES RIGHT AND JUST! BUT INSTEAD COURRUPTED LIKE MY FATHER, REBORN, AND THAT VONGOLA NINTH WHO THINKS HE KNOWS EVERYTHING!"

"YOU'RE CALLING ME A LIAR? LIKE THEM?"

"HA! Did I hit sore spot?"

"Sore spot, _sore spot?_" Tsuna asked, insulted by the accusation. "Who are you kidding, _YOU ARE A LIAR YOURSELF!_"

"SHUT UP! WHAT DO YOU KNOW! WHAT WOULD A LIAR LIKE YOURSELF KNOW!"

The next wave of bombs rained down on Tsuna. Tsuna growled, and put them all off before they could explode. Deciding the place wasn't the best to fight, Tsuna slowly led Gokudera away, getting closer to the lake. Unluckily, the other seems to think that Tsuna was escaping, thus chased after Tsuna with more explosives in hand.

As Tsuna ran, he caught a pair of bombs, aiming them at trees. The bombs caught fire, exploding instantly at tree contact. Under the explosions, the trees fell and blocked Gokudera's path. He looked back at Gokudera, who was annoyed but didn't stop chasing him.

"You will be like them!" Gokudera shouted. "Like all those who called themselves my "boss"! They all promised me! Every fucking one of them! Those bastards said they cared! They said I was a good subordinate! They said they needed _me_."

Gokudera stepped back, before leaping over the flaming fallen tree.

"Well you know what? They fed me bullshits and in the end, they betrayed me. I wasn't needed. They tried to kill me, to get rid of me. They couldn't take my reputation. I was just a tool, a trash! They couldn't see me! They were liars!"

"SO EVERY ONE OF THOSE MOTHER FUCKING BASTARDS DIED! _**I KILLED THEM ALL!**_"

* * *

><p><strong>Reborn's Location<strong>

"Smokin' Bomb. That name, he got it for not only his skill, his temper, but also because he was a _real ticking bomb_. He betrayed all the families he joined. He murdered each and every one of those he called 'boss'."

Without batting an eye, Reborn asked. "So you're letting your brother take the blame."

Bianchi laughed. "Well, I do love my brother dearly. But I love you more, my dearest Reborn. But I am still curious why my brother wasn't caught yet, being a traitor and all."

"The Ninth struck a deal with the Vindice. The agreement was to let Gokudera free under the condition he becomes one of Tsuna's men."

"Aren't you worried that he might kill that pupil of yours?"

"It doesn't mean I agree but I trust the Ninth's decision. Tsuna will be able to handle it."

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Forest<strong>

"You might try to defuse them all, but SEE IF YOU CAN TAKE THIS?" The number of dynamites on his hand seemed to magically double. "DOUBLE BOMBS"

Bombs bombarded him. With that he didn't think Gokudera could still have a trick up his sleeve. Difficult to defuse but… it won't defeat him yet. With a slight boost of flame, he increased his speed to defuse the dynamites.

"I find it ironic that you are called a lone wolf. For all those idiotic things you said, you are lying to yourself. If you want freedom so much, if you don't like be bossed around, then why do you try so _damn hard_ to find a boss? To find _someone_ to lead you? Why do you find the need to _evaluate_ them? People like you always complain that you can't decide your life. And yet, you search for a boss that will decide yours. It's pathetic."

"S-Shut up! What do you think you know? How much do you know about me? Don't just assume! Triple bomb!" The number of dynamites tripled to an insane amount.

'_Oh… Shit,'_ Tsuna thought. That trick will be dangerous. If Gokudera decided to throw them, even the brunet wouldn't be able to defuse it all in time. With quick steps, he suddenly closed in on Gokudera. Tsuna grabbed both of Gokudera's wrists, stopping the other from throwing. Gokudera was surprised by the firm grip the smaller boy had. He trashed, but couldn't get free.

There was a cold laugh. "I do know enough. Tell me, Gokudera Hayato, why do you accuse me of lying when you also lie? Isn't everyone a liar?"

The bomber had a slight pose in his movements.

"Did... They ever lie to you? The person you held dear." Tsuna forced the other to look in his eyes. "TELL ME GOKUDERA HAYATO, _DID THEY ALSO LIE?_"

"I–... They–" No, Gokudera knew. He was lying to himself too. He long knew that it wasn't always other's problems. What he wanted, was a normal life inside the mafia. But the mafia wasn't that way. The mafia killed, the mafia stole, the mafia... Lied.

Looking at the future mafia boss in the eyes, those brown eyes that dared him to lie, he couldn't say anything.

Liars... They were. Every one of them was. His father lied. His step mother lied. His sister lied.

It was foolish, it was selfish.

Even his real mother... That beautiful woman, with long silver hair that visited him every year.

_"Nice to meet you, miss Lavina!"_

_"Nice to meet you too..."_

The smile that she brought with him and shared with him…

_"Hayato, would you like me to teach you piano?"_

"Yes!"

She was…

_"Miss! Miss! How did you meet father? How did you know father? What's your relationship with father?"_

_Painful smile... "I am your father's... friend."_

A liar. Even she told him lies.

Hayato dropped on his knees... His grip loosened; the multitude dynamites he held dropped on the ground. What was he thinking? Deep down, he knew; maybe he had always known. That he too, was escaping the truth. He long acknowledged the fact that even if he was half blood, only Mafioso from his father's side, he was already tainted by their lies, theirs sins. He thought he hated the mafia too, those who betray, those who murder, those who lie. And in the process of not wanting to be like them, he got entangled in their webs. And it was also one of the reasons he couldn't stand someone like Sawada Tsunayoshi, so pure, so unworthy to bear their sins because the latter would never understand. He liked the Decimo even less, because seeing him getting tainted too was too much.

But… He… didn't care anymore.

Tsuna's eyes widened. That idiot was suicidal!

…_3_

With that insane amount of dynamite, there was no safe place to dodge. Tsuna immediately let go of Gokudera's wrists. The only way he could get away relatively unharmed would be to use Gokudera as a shield. Thus he grabbed the Italian and dragged him closer.

…_2_

He pulled them both back, trying to get as far as they could and…

…_1_

… Plunged into the lake, dragging Gokudera along with him into the safety of the underwater.

…_0_

_**Boom!**_

Flames engulfed the vegetation near the lake.

A minute later, as the explosion died off, two people resurfaced above water. Each taking a deal breath, Tsuna dragged hiscompanion onshore. Once Tsuna succeeded, they sat on the ground, panting for air.

There was a heavy silence where the two looked at the surroundings, at the damage they had done.

Their surroundings were all burnt, with flames still eating the grass and the branches on the trees. The trees that were the closest to the center of the explosionoh ad fallen, and crushes plants here and there. Luckily, the fire was only some small flames, not enough the spread in a forest fire, and the humid atmosphere around the lake and the fact that it just rained the day before kept the fire at bay.

One wet bomber bit his lips. He looked at his savior, that liar who, despite the lies, really saved him. What can he say to his savior? What words can justify himself? What-

"I-"

"Shush..." Tsuna hushed.

Gokudera didn't need to say anything.

* * *

><p>"But more than anything, I trust Tsuna," Reborn declared toward the pink haired woman named Bianchi.<p>

"He has more potential hidden in him that you can see. Even if he doesn't have a dying will for me to work on, he has what it take to tame the lone wolf."

Bianchi's look went blank.

"What makes you think that way?"

"Simple." Reborn stood up, with Leon resting comfortably on his shoulder, jumped down a three story window, and walked away.

Bianchi gazed at where her lover had disappeared to, with love and something mysterious in her eyes. "Simple, you say?"

Perhaps it was jealousy?

_"Simple. He is my student."_

* * *

><p><strong>Namimori Forest, some time later. <strong>

After quite a while, it was Gokudera who broke the silence.

"Sawada Tsunayoshi-sama..." Gokudera said finally, in a polite tone that Tsuna wouldn't have thought would ever come out from the delinquent's mouth.

Tsuna had reverted back to the soft spoken persona, different from the calm but serious tone one he had when he felt with Reborn or Hibari or anyone else. It's as more likethe Dame-Tsuna act, only calmer and less panicky.

Sofly, he answered, "It's okay, you don't have to say anything."

"NO!― I'm sorry, I mean... I'm sorry. I'M SORRY! You're really fit to be the tenth! I don't even deserve to call you by your full name! Jyuudaime! I deserve punishment for this! To put Jyuudaime in danger because of my selfishness!"

"Ha... Ahahaha!" Tsuna suddenly laughed.

"Jyuudaime?"

"Ah, haha... Sorry. So all that fuzz about wanting to kill me was just to see if I was worthy? You're doing a fine job as a bodyguard," he teased.

Sadly, the bomb delinquent didn't take it that way. "I- I- IMSOSORRY!" Gokudera suddenly bowed, banging his head hard on the ground. Bowing once, bowing twice, thrice…

"HIIIIIIE! It's okay! Gokudera-san!" _'I swear this guy is bi-polar!'_

"I was mistaken! You're the one fit to be the boss! If Jyuudaime don't mind, I will be following down to the other side of the Earth! Jyuudaime is more than worthy!"

"What?"

"I… Jyudaime is right. I didn't really have ambitions to become the tenth. Not that I could anyway, since Vongola only accept those who has their bloodline. It's just hard to see someone who is the same age as me becoming a boss. But you're more than I expected. You're different! You can see me! You… understand me. More than words, I have seen you actually do something to save my life, unlike those who called themselves my boss. They are all talk."

"…Are you really-"

"YES!"

Tsuna looked at Gokudera and nodded hesitantly, mentally planning what he would do to the bomber. _'…It's a difficult choice to decide to put follow a liar. Are you really following me?'_

Tsuna nodded. "Will you trust me?" He smiled.

* * *

><p>Tsuna told Gokudera to leave first, saying he still wanted to do something in the forest. After snatching the promise that Jyuudaime would join him later, Gokudera left first.<p>

"Trust?" a voice asked him, after Gokudera left. "Empty words coming from someone like you, Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna stopped in his tracks, but didn't bother to look back. "...I didn't know you cared, Hibari-san."

"I hate liars. I only came back to get my tonfas."

Tsuna laughed at Hibari's excuse. "Then I must be an exception, ne?"

Tsuna didn't wait for an answer to walk away, disappearing into the trees.

"Hn." No, he didn't care. He simply just couldn't trust the bipolar, lying accomplice named Sawada Tsunayoshi.

"Jyuudaime! Are you hurt? Are you okay?" Gokudera said as Tsuna joined him, looking all around with possible injuries his Tenth might have gotten when he went out of Gokudera's sight.

"It's fine, Gokudera-san..."

"Aha! Of course! Jyuudaime is the best after all! Jyuudaime is invincible!"

"Aha..."

The walk was an awkward silence. Gokudera walked in front, because he wanted 'to clear a safe path for Jyuudaime!' It took much longer to get out then how they get in, taking many detours because Gokudera obviously wasn't familiar with the place. Tsuna thought it was ridiculous since he knew the forest better than Gokudera, but decided to not say anything in front of the bomber's enthusiasm. Still, Gokudera had a terrific mind, Tsuna noticed, to be able to orientate himself more or less, when normal people would get lost.

As they reached the edge of Namimori forest, soon leaving its safety to go back to a world where Reborn is watching, Tsuna called out.

"Erm... Gokudera-san..." He had to make sure of something.

"Yes, Jyuudaime?" Gokudera answered, without looking back.

"…Are you... on Reborn's side?"

"... Everyone older than me is my enemy." Gokudera answered carefully.

"Ah... So it means that you're siding with him―"

"Reborn-san is older than he looks." Gokudera turned and smiled brightly at his new boss.

Tsuna laughed slightly. He won.

"Gokudera-san..."

"Yes Jyuudaime?"

"Can... Can I call you Gokudera-kun?" the small Japanese boy asked in a timid voice.

Gokudera suddenly spluttered, face going pink. "Wh… I su- I mean, YES! I-"

Tsuna extended the hand of friendship, and Tsuna offered his best smile. "Well, I... M-more than being your Jyuudaime, I wish we can be friends."

If only the smile wasn't crazed.

Gokudera accepted.

* * *

><p><strong>-Chapter end-<strong>

* * *

><p><strong>Omake<strong>

_(Omake actually happen in the storyline, unless stated otherwise. C:)_

* * *

><p><strong>Omake 1: Food chain<strong>

This happened quite a while ago before Reborn came.

"Ne, Hibari. I was just thinking..." Tsuna said while they were on the school's rooftop.

"What, herbivore?"

"There's something wrong with the names you call me," Tsuna said very very seriously (coughwithapoutcough). "I mean, you're calling me herbivore, then carnivore, then herbivore, then carnivore. I still don't understand what I eat has anything to do with me at all. (And I eat both meat and vegetables. Beside, I'd be called a vegetarian and not a herbivore even if I don't eat meat.)"

"Hn. You get preyed by other herbivores in your normal personality, thus you're an herbivore. A carnivore when you show your true self," Hibari answered, as if it was the most obvious thing on the world.

"That's the problem!"

Hibari's eyes twitched slightly in annoyance at the suddenly high pitched voice.

"Ok, I get it that you call people herbivores because they're weaker and all. But if herbivores prey on herbivores, then they'd become carnivores because they'd prey on other animals! Or cannibals, for the matter. So your logic is flawed."

Tsuna continued his rant, ignoring Hibari that was suspiciously not replying with a growl or a 'Hn'. "Herbivores only eat plants. And im also a carnivore. Thus, if I get preyed on by people you call 'herbivore'..."

Tsuna looked at the far away sky, lost in his thoughts(?).

"Then you should call me plant. A carnivore plant."

There was a door slam, and Tsuna found himself alone on the rooftop.

"Hibari... Hibari?"

Since that day, Hibari only ever called 'Sawada Tsunayoshi'. ('herbivore' when keeping with Tsuna's dame facade)

Either he decided that Tsuna was beyond the levels of the animal food chain or simply didn't want to say "I'll bite you to death, carnivorous plant" remains unknown, even to today.

* * *

><p><strong>Omake 2: It's not who you think<strong>

(*This does not happen in storyline.)

"I've been looking for you," the voice whispered in Reborn's ears.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I'VE MIIISSSEEEED YOU REEEEBOOOOOORN!"

"Get off, Iemitsu."

"Buuut Reboooorn! This isn't the way you should treat an old friend!"

Leon turned into a gun.

"Get. Off. Now."

"Reb-"

After that day, Tsuna would never get the chance to have a younger sibling.

* * *

><p><strong>AN**  
>Anyway, that's the end of the 'mini-arc', which introduced Yamamoto, Gokudera and Hibari~ (and Bianchi, on the side).<p>

Once again, I need you guy's opinion on who should come next! Not the guardians though, because some of the side characters also needs to appear. So Kyoko, Haru, Ipin, Fuuta, or even Giannini, Shouichi... Anyone you can think of that's part of canon (manga and anime)

Hope you enjoyed this mini arc. And sorry for the late chapters. And if the last part seems rushed, I'm sorry. I wanted to finish this before I left for vacation. I'll come back and edit this later.

And for everyone. I'm sure you guys knows about the recent purge of ffn of M rated fics and the group called Critics United, who have been reporting fanfics they didn't like for the smallest of reasons. I mean seriously, threatening to delete a story because of adding A/N after chapters and answering reviews in chapters is just stupid. That doesn't count as an interacting story as all, just review replies)

Personally, I have nowhere to go if my fics are deleted. I don't like Live Journal and knows even less of other sites. So if my fics gets deleted, I don't think I'll keep writing anymore, and I'll just go back drawing art instead. Those who did the last Black Out, thank you all (and no, it wasn't organised by me). And this time again, just passing the message, Akahama Nera is organizing another Black Out day.

Quoted: "We could post a story, or a chapter of a letter rejecting the deletions. Also, we can send mails altogether to the admins, so they would take us seriously and listen to us. Another thing is another Black Out day...but different.

**JULY 4TH (GMT)**

No posting. No reviewing. No reading. No anything.  
>Nothing but one story or chapter pertaining to this issue."<p>

So that's it. Hope you guys join in on Black Out day (too bad I will be on vacation then) and help out. Also, leave a review to this story to encourage this lazy author. (TuT)

Doesn't that new review box looks cool? 8D

I

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